


Do You Believe in Wishes?

by JunoNotFound, trivialtrash



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Amusement Parks, Arguing on Stream, Awkward Flirting, Awkward Tension, Bodyswap, Dream is Dumbass Himbo Who Doesn't Think Before He Speaks, Dream team lives together, Eventual Happy Ending, Fluff, George is an Emotionally Repressed Idiot, Heartbreak, Hurt/Comfort, Inspired by Roleplay/Roleplay Adaptation, M/M, No Beta we Die Like Dream in MCC to the Iron Doors, Pining, Sapnap is Caught in the Middle and Fed Up With Them
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:40:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27789874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JunoNotFound/pseuds/JunoNotFound, https://archiveofourown.org/users/trivialtrash/pseuds/trivialtrash
Summary: A bright flash filled the sky and George shut his eyes tight, spite still coursing through his thoughts.As he opened his eyes again and locked on to his chosen star one crystal clear thought filled his mind; 'I want to be as tall as Dream.' Maybe then, he'd understand, maybe then, the strange feelings would go away, maybe then... He glanced back to Dream and the fluttery feeling only got worse.He crossed his arms in a huff. "There, I did it."“Do you believe in wishes?” Dream murmured, a light flush covering his cheeks. He remained quiet, deciding to simply test the waters with his question.George was tempted to answer bluntly, crass and uncaring with a truthful “no”, but seeing the optimism and nervous hesitation in Dream’s eyes, he haltered. But, looking to Dream and the way his sincere expression pierced his heart…“Only... when you're here.” George muttered in a hushed tone.-After a tranquil night of wishing on stars, Dream and George find themselves in each other's bodies and have to deal with the aftermath while they avoid talking about their feelings like the emotionally constipated idiots they are.
Relationships: Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF)
Comments: 47
Kudos: 311





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> After weeks of begging for a bodyswap fanfic, Juno agreed to do an rp with me instead. So now we're here to deliver the bodyswap dnf fic this fandom deserves. 
> 
> I have to give a giant shout out to "When You Wish Upon a Star" by emerald1963, who greatly inspired me with their incredible writing and overall concept. This idea and fic would not have come about without them <3 I recommend giving it a read, especially if you like Haikyuu!! since the ship is Oikawa x Iwaizumi
> 
> Anyway, enough rambling.

"Dream! George! Get your asses out here!” A half-yell comes from the living room. It was followed by a small pause, and it seemed like the boy had finally given up. He’d been calling for the duo for like five minutes, which was way too long to be yelling at 3am. However, he clearly wasn't done, as another yell directed at them echoed through the halls once more.

This earned a loud groan from the blond, who had been pretending to still be asleep prior to that moment. Part of him wanted to simply continue to ignore the youngest and choose to keep cuddling Patches from the warmth of his bed, but he knew that the other wouldn't give up until both he and George were present for whatever was important enough to wake up the whole household.

“Jesus christ- I’m coming! Stop yelling,” Dream finally answered, staring at the ceiling with a murderous glare for a solid 20 seconds before throwing his blanket off and exiting his room. He shot Patches an apologetic look as he walked out, closing the door behind him.

George rolled over in his bed, deep asleep and oblivious to the cares of the outside world, least of all the cares of a rather noisy Sapnap in the living room. Able to sleep through a hurricane, which had actually proved able to do on more than one occasion, he snoozed on peacefully.

“George, you comin’?” Dream mumbled, half-asleep as he knocked on the brunet’s door. A soft sigh of annoyance left his lips as he realized that he’d have to wake the boy up, since Sapnap clearly wouldn't be content with just one of them.

“Hey, you idiot, wake up. Sapnap’s got something to show us. I dunno actually, the house might be on fire. He’s still yelling for some reason,” Dream tiredly rambled on as he walked over to the sleeping boy, gently nudging him as a (probably unsuccessful) attempt to awaken him.

George grumbled, confirming Dream's suspicions as he sank further into his mattress as he wiggled under the covers in a feeble half awake attempt to escape impending doom.

It was apparent from the way that his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance that he was slowly coming to, but hell be damned if George wasn't going to go without a fight. He muttered out a muffled protest into his pillow. He tried to let the sweet bliss of sleep fully claim his senses as his body went lax once more.

“Nuh-uh, not happening,” Dream declared, tugging at George’s blankets, “if I get to wake up at 3-fucking-am for whatever shenanigan Sapnap’s planned, then so do you.” He pulled the blanket away from the half-asleep boy, a determined glint in his green eyes.

“If one of us suffers, all of us suffer! Besides, I wanna see if what Sapnap deemed worthy of waking us up this early is really worth it, or if I should start searching for a new roommate.”

George, finally uncovered and wide awake, looked ready to murder. His anger was locked on to Dream for about a split second before his words sank in and he decided that his number one target, was in fact, still yelling for them from the living room. He sighed and rubbed at his eyes before looking longingly towards his blanket cast aside on the floor. His anger, not fully dissipated, rose again in his voice as he stood up. 

"You're definitely going to have to look for a new roommate, because I'm going to go kill that idiot." He gave a final stretch, then side stepped Dream and briskly walked down the hallway with murderous intent.

“Sapnap, you better start explaining!” Dream exclaimed, though it was more of a warning than a threat. Despite being bigger and buffer than George, he knew that the older boy’s anger was unparalleled if his sleep was interrupted. Both of the younger boys feared moments like these.

“Oh, finally! Jesus it’s been like 50 years,” Sapnap let out an exasperated sigh, deciding to ignore the murderous glares fixated directly on him once the duo made it into the room. “Now, before you kill me or replace me with a new roommate, give me a moment to explain. I swear it’s worth it.”

George raised a skeptical eyebrow, already feeling his patience waning. "You get thirty seconds before I find the nearest pillow and start beating you to death with the softest, most inefficient method of murder known to man." He snapped, only half joking. "What's so important that both of us had to be here, standing in our darkened living room at 3 am, anyway?" Despite how he crossed his arms and fixed Sapnap with a withering stare, George looked intrigued, unable to help a nagging curiosity from replacing his sleepiness.

Dream shot an amused glance at the oldest, though it quickly turned back into inconvenience and annoyance when he returned his gaze to Sapnap. The youngest let out a nervous laugh, pretending like that wasn't a half-joke, and spoke quickly, “There’s a meteor shower! It’s insanely cool and I figured you guys would be more pissed if I let you sleep through it than if I woke you up.”

To this, the blond couldn't help but crack a smile, though he still rolled his eyes and flicked the back of Sapnap’s head as he began walking outside. He glanced back when he reached the door, a hopeful look in his eyes as he checked to see if the others were following him. He didn’t want to be the only half-asleep idiot outside.

George groaned in disbelief. "You woke us up for stupid balls of gas?" He looked up at Dream with an incredulous look, as if to ask 'Are we really putting up with this bullshit?'

“Aw, c'mon Georgie,” Dream teased, though he sounded somewhat eager, “don't you wanna go see it? I mean, we’re already awake, might as well go out. Yeah?”

Dream waited by the door, though he was already half outside, to see if George would follow. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he really wanted to go out and watch the meteor shower - maybe even make a wish?

George caved, really how could he say no when Dream sounded as enthusiastic as he did at such an ungodly hour. He dragged his feet as he followed Dream outside. "Okay fine. But only because I was having an awful and super unrealistic dream where Sapnap was somehow beating me in pvp." He glowered at Sapnap before walking outside and casting his gaze upwards. For all his demeaning talk about the "stupid balls of gas", he felt his breath hitch and his heart still when he saw the lights above flashing in and out of existence, dancing across the sky. "It's... incredible." His whisper felt thick against the humid night air. He moved off the porch to get a better look, stepping on to the sidewalk to fully crane his neck upwards.

George had slept through a lot; a presidential debate, a festival, three hurricanes and almost during what could have been his last mcc if he hadn't woken up on time. Each time, he hadn't felt particularly bad about missing whatever had happened, free from the burdens of fomo, but this? This sight was a spectacle he felt glad he wasn't asleep for. Not that he was about to tell Sapnap that.

Dream quickly followed George off of the porch, letting out of a sigh of content as he watched the lights fill the night sky. For a little while, he stayed silent, attempting to count each of the meteors he saw illuminating the sky. Then, he softly said, “We should make wishes. Do you wanna?”

George scoffed, shoving down the warm fuzzy feeling that blossomed in his chest at Dream’s quiet voice. “”Make wishes”, what are you, 12?” He had to admit, the sight was beautiful, but it felt absolutely ridiculous to wish on them, that might just be a step too far.

“Pfft- yeah, out of 10,” Dream retorted, followed by a wheeze. He took a few more moments to laugh at his joke, even though it really wasn't that funny, then grinned at George. “But still, c'mon. I’m gonna make a wish. You should too.”

"Oh my god, Dream. That was so unfunny it almost hurts." George considered the stars above, and then Dream's smiling face. He looked away, coughing lightly. "Yeah... sure, whatever. How does this even work, do we just go on the count of three or something?"

That earned another wheeze from Dream, who shook his head ‘no'. Once he got all of his laughter out, he looked up at the sky, as if searching for something in particular. “Find the brightest one in the sky, then make a wish on it. Don’t tell me what you wished for or it won’t come true.” 

He then fell silent, continuing his search for the brightest meteor. When he found it, he silently wished for George to understand how he felt. He glanced over at the shorter boy, an adoring smile spreading across his lips. "Did you make your wish?" He asked in almost a whisper.

George found himself heating up from that damned smile, too warm and passionate after years of only hearing his voice. He stubbornly turned his face back to the sky. "No! Now, shut up and let me wish." He was still feeling salty and irritable, although he couldn't really pinpoint why. Maybe it had something to do with the incessant fluttering in his stomach? 

A bright flash filled the sky and he shut his eyes tight, spite still coursing through his thoughts. How dare Dream act all that, look so handsome and constantly flirt- Was it a tall person thing? He betted it was a tall person thing, Sapnap wasn't much better. As he opened his eyes again and locked on to his chosen star one crystal clear thought filled his mind; 'I want to be as tall as Dream.' Maybe then, he'd understand, maybe then, the strange feelings would go away, maybe then... He glanced back to Dream and the fluttery feeling only got worse. He crossed his arms in a huff. "There, I did it."

“Do you believe in wishes?” Dream murmured, a light flush covering his cheeks. It was clear that he did, though he didn't want to openly admit it unless George felt the same. Though, to be fair, the only other time he’d sat outside under a sky full of meteors to make a wish, it came true. The story danced on the tip of his tongue, eager to share the somewhat sentimental story with his grouchy best friend. However, he remained quiet, deciding to simply test the waters with his question. 

Often, he found himself doing this; waiting eagerly to see if George shared his sentiments so he could spill out his emotions. Yet each time he tried, he was met with teases and insults before he could share his true intentions behind the questions. Perhaps that was why that silly wish, for George to understand how he felt, had been the first one to come to mind.

George was tempted to answer bluntly, crass and uncaring with a truthful “no”, but seeing the optimism and nervous hesitation in Dream’s eyes, he haltered. He was non-believer in a lot of stupid crap like magic and ghosts and as far as he was concerned, wishes were just another item on the list. But, looking to Dream and the way his sincere expression pierced his heart… “Only... with you here.” George muttered in a hushed tone. He could feel his heart pound, half convinced that maybe ghosts were real and one had possessed him to admit that. 

“Yeah?” Dream whispered out, not even bothering to hide his eager excitement. He leaned forward slightly, barely getting a word out of his story before a voice came from behind them, ruining the intimate moment. “Hey lover boys, I got you some hot chocolate as an apology for waking you up,” Sapnap interrupted, holding up two mugs for the duo. He had a dorky grin across his face despite knowing damn well that he interrupted something soft.

The fluttery feelings reached a snapping point when Sapnap interrupted- interrupted what exactly? George didn't know. Bright red, he pivoted away from Dream and snatched the mug from Sapnap. "Thanks, asshole. You're almost forgiven." Then he retreated into the living room to go hide his burning face and unjustified embarrassment.

Dream let out a quiet huff, accepting the hot chocolate with a small eye roll. “Thanks for making sure we saw that,” He said, though there was a certain sharp annoyance in his voice. The meteor shower had certainly made up for waking him up - so why was he still annoyed? It was like a moment was stolen right from his hands, but he wasn't sure what that moment was supposed to be. Nevertheless, he went back inside to enjoy the warm drink.

Curled up on the couch and already halfway to falling back asleep, George cradled the half empty mug, only perking up somewhat upon seeing Dream enter the room. He gave a tiny wave before leaning back into the side of the couch, only barely keeping the mug in his lap upright.

Dream let out a small chuckle, walking over and sitting beside the half asleep boy. “Try not to pass out in the middle of drinking, yeah?” He teased lightly, though he was nearly asleep as well. If he didn't finish the drink soon, he'd end up in the exact same position George was.

George gave a dismissive wave and breathed deeply as his head lolled onto the couch side. Realistically, he knew he should probably go to the kitchen not more than ten steps away, set down his mug in the sink to soak and just climb into bed. But that seemed like a task of heroic proportions as the comfortable material of the couch and cushions around him seemed to envelop him in a sleep inducing cuddle. His last thought before darkness began to encroach on his vision was a hazy, 'Wouldn't it be cool to be as tall as dream? Maybe wishes can come true and a miracle could happen...'

Dream quickly grabbed the mug from the smaller boy, laughing gently as he got up to soak their mugs in the sink. He came back and sat back down, intending to wake up George so they could go back to bed. But the moment he sat down, he found himself leaning against the other, falling asleep almost immediately.

When George awoke, it wasn’t to the bright morning sunshine, the chirping of birds or a soft lover’s kiss. No, instead it was to the noise of a camera shutter going off and muted cackling. Blearily, he forced himself into a state of being awake. As he blinked off the sleep clinging to his eyes, he noticed a few things. 

First, The mug that had been precariously balanced in his lap was no longer there, his heart warmed as he imagined Dream finding him asleep on the couch and taking his mug away before he could create a sticky catastrophe. 

Second, the annoying noises that had woken him up were coming from none other than Sapnap, who stood a few feet away (safely out of kicking distance, George noted) grinning like a lunatic as he took pictures of them on his phone. Wait- ‘ _ them _ ’? 

Lastly, he glanced down to his left and found-

He nearly screamed. 

“WHAT THE FUCK?” The voice that escaped his mouth was not his own. The body sleeping next to him, however, was. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dealing with the fallout and awkward flirting :)

“WHAT THE FUCK?” The voice that escaped George’s mouth was not his own. The body sleeping next to him, however, was. 

The loud yell snapped Dream out of his slumber immediately, causing him to jolt up. To his surprise, he ran into someone to his side - the side that should've been empty, from what he remembered; had Sapnap slept beside them too? “Ack- sorry,” He muttered quickly, though his eyes widened at the sound of ‘his’ voice. It was certainly not his voice, but he had been the one who said it. As he glanced over to see who he ran into, his eyes widened. “What?” He snapped out, surprised to see his own fucking body sitting beside him. “Nope. Fuck this. What the fuck?!” He got up, basically bolting to the bathroom to figure out what was going on.

George watched his own body retreat as he sat there in a daze. His heart was racing in an unpleasant panicky way. That must've been Dream, right? He raised a hand and took in the tanned skin, shorter fingernails and scars from being an idiot- Yep, this was not his hand. How the hell was this possible? Beyond his, er, Dream's hand he saw a confused looking Sapnap looking in the direction . He leveled him with a glare. "What the hell did you put in that cocoa?" He asked, not entirely convinced he wasn't still asleep or insanely high from something dumb Sapnap had slipped into their drinks. He flinched as he heard Dream's voice leave his throat again.

“What’s with you two?” Sapnap asked with a head tilt, glancing at the now locked bathroom door. “Are you two lactose intolerant or something?” 

George rolled his eyes, "No, dumbass. Don't you think you would've found out before now?" Belatedly, he realized his tone was a little too brusque compared to Dream's usual tone. He jumped off the couch to escape the situation, offering a meager, "I'm going to go check on Dre- uh... George. You go check the milk, maybe you accidentally put soured shit in it." His tone wasn't very amiable or offering of any backtalk and George reveled in the authoritative tone he was able to make Dream's voice take.

Without waiting for a response from his confused roommate, he leaves. 

Meanwhile, Dream was staring at his- no, at George’s reflection. He grabbed onto his face, muttering soft ‘no’s over and over again. Then, he stared down at his shirt, confusion clear in his brown eyes. “Why- what- what's wrong with the colors? Am I.. am I colorblind?” He murmured, feeling a creeping realization and anxiety grow in him.

Arriving at the door, he gives a quiet knock before whispering out an even quieter, "...D-dream?" His voice was hesitant, as if finally speaking out the other man's name will make the situation real. 

There was a long pause, before Dream slowly opened the door. He glanced up at the blond, a deep, anxious frown on his face. Opening the door a bit further, the now shorter boy motioned for George to enter the bathroom to talk privately. “Um, George..?” He whispered out.

George stepped inside and closed the door behind him, making sure Sapnap didn’t see him slip in. It was a disorienting experience for sure, gazing down at his own panic stricken face. There was a moment of silence before he broke it with a quiet “Oh my God…” 

Then he began laughing. Hard. The entire situation was hysterical, unbelievable, completely and absolutely bonkers. George wheezed, but hearing Dream’s wheeze emanate from himself only made him laugh harder. He remained laughing for a good thirty seconds before he began to see spots and reality came crashing back down. “D-Dream,” he choked out between laughs, “You’re shorter than me.”

“THAT’S ALL YOU CAN THINK ABOUT RIGHT NOW?” Dream exclaimed, before covering his face with his hands and loudly groaning. Taking a deep breath, he tried to tune out the laughter, glancing over at the mirror again. “Oh my god I’m a fucking midget,” He murmured, sounding completely defeated at the sight of his new height.

That managed to shut George up. "Yeah, yeah yuck it up. I'm sooo short, well guess what, until whatever this is is gone, you're just going to have to deal with it." He smacked Dream on the back of the head, much harder than he intended, unadjusted to the new body. 

"Oh shit," his eyes widened as he watched Dream stagger forward, "are you okay?" And yet, there was something so inherently funny about watching his own body flail that he let out a stifled laugh as he asked.

“Oh right, you sound  _ so  _ concerned for me,” Dream grumbled, rubbing the back of his head with a deep frown. “How the hell is this fair? You get my height and my strength - but all I get is your fucking sight? How'd this even happen? Did you wish for this or something?” 

Dream knew he was being unfairly harsh and taking out his anger on George, but he didn't know what else to do. This was so confusing- was it his fault? Did his wish somehow translate to ‘I wanna trade places with my short colorblind friend’? 

Nonetheless, he sighed, muttering out an apology as he stared up at George.

Dream's last question made his blood run cold as he thought back to last night. Half delirious in sleep, he almost hadn't remembered but then it came back to him 'I want to be as tall as Dream'. Well, fuck. He let out a nervous high pitched laugh, that just sounded wrong coming from Dream's voice, but oh well. "N-no, it must not be related to the stars..." he coughed a couple more nervous chuckles while he looked to the door and considered running before Dream could catch on. 

Then he realized something. 

He turned back to Dream, hoping that his questions would distract him from the point at hand. "Wait, you said your height and strength, but that means sight too, right??" Not bothering to hear Dream out, he opened the medicine cabinet and immediately found an assortment of pill bottles of various colors. He breathed in a sharp gasp. 

"Dream, holy shit, your eyes are incredible." He grabbed an orange pill bottle staring at it, scrutinizing it. "The glasses didn't even show anything half as bright!" He exclaimed excitedly.

“Yeah?” Dream couldn't help but smile, peeking around George to see the pill bottles. As depressing as it was to lose his sight, he couldn't help but feel excited that George would be able to see colors thanks to his eyes. “Which color is your favorite, of the ones there?”

Quickly scanning over the myriad of colors, taking in each one like it was the first time he's ever seen them, George reached forward and grabbed a brilliant blue container containing Vicks VapoRub. He held it out to Dream, a content smile filling his face. "Blue is still my favorite color and it’s  _ so _ vibrant. Besides, we can both see it." His voice is warm and happy as he turned back to the pill bottles to keep looking at them, taking immense pleasure in how easily he can now reach the top shelf.

Dream inhaled sharply, caught off guard by the surprisingly kind response. “Ye-yeah, yeah, I guess blue is pretty cool,” He nods quickly, a light hue of red spreading across his cheeks.  _ ’Jesus, Dream, get yourself together. There are bigger issues at hand than watching him- me?- observe pill bottles.’ _

“Um… what should we tell Sapnap?” He asked softly, turning away and scrunching his eyebrows as he thought hard about how to explain it properly.

"Easy," George started, putting all the bottles back "we don't." He looked down to Dream, his face turning more serious. "Dream, do you really think he'll be able to keep this a secret? He's the entire reason people found out we all lived together. He's a _ terrible liar, _ there's no way we can trust him with this until we figure out how to undo it." He scoffed, closing the cabinet door. "If there's a way this all goes horribly and fucks up our lives, he'll be the one to find it."

“How the  _ hell  _ are we gonna pretend to be each other for who-knows-how-long? You really think you can handle being nice to Sapnap? You really think I can handle constantly bickering with the idiot?” Dream pointed out, turning towards George as he spoke. However, as soon as he recalled the red on his cheeks, he turned away quickly and faced the door. “Um- anyways- we should go before he assumes we’re like… having sex or something."

"Dream, what?!" It was jarring to hear something he's said so many times in that exact tone come from himself, but he was slowly getting used to it. Probably not a good thing. He was baffled when he thought he saw the color red flooding his own face staring back at him, before Dream turned. He laughed out of nervous embarrassment "What?!" He repeated, feeling his own cheeks heat up. 

"You're so disgusting..." He half heartedly defended, trying to make the tone 'normal' between them again. "I was about to say that I can get along  _ fine _ with Sapnap, thank you. In your body  _ or _ mine. And it's not like you have to berate him  _ all _ the time. Just when he's not using his brain and being a dummy, so, most of the time."

“I- you- wh- fine, no, this is fine, I’m not gonna keep questioning this. Let’s just- go, and hope he doesn't piece it together. I’m hungry anyways. Maybe we can slip away and go get some breakfast? It’ll buy us time before the lies have to start,” Dream rambled, still avoiding George’s gaze. His cheeks were getting redder and redder the more his thoughts wandered, and honestly, he just wanted to curl up in his bed and cuddle Patches until everything was fixed.

"Yeah..." he agreed. George watched in morbid fascination as his own cheeks got redder and redder, until finally he couldn't contain it anymore. Bluntly, he asked "Are you blushing?"

_ ”Shutthefuckup, _ ” Dream quickly defended, pushing past the taller boy to leave the room as quickly as possible. He’d much rather face whatever awkward encounter awaited him outside than explain what thoughts had his cheeks so red.

George felt his eyes widen and his heart accelerate like a hamster running in a wheel on steroids as Dream shoved past, shy and muted, so unlike the snappy sass he was used to receiving and bickering against. Dream, aside from valuing his private life, was a pretty open person, to see him so defensive and flustered- George was left completely bewildered and a little... happy? He found himself loving this new side of his friend and felt that pesky fluttery feeling from last night return. Deciding not to read too much into, well, any of that, he followed Dream quietly, mind too busy reeling to try and make any contribution to whatever conversation was inevitably happening between Sap and Dream.

“Oh hey George, you good now?” Sapnap questioned as Dream walked in, standing in the kitchen with pancakes on a pan. Seeing this, Dream let out a sigh of defeat, knowing they wouldn't be able to slip away for breakfast. He paused, glancing back at George as he expected him to answer. However, when he realized the question was meant for  _ him _ , he quickly replied, “Y-yeah, obviously. Why would something be wrong?”

Yeah. Real smooth.

George had to physically bite his lip to prevent himself from answering with some snappy retort. He decided the best way to deal with the situation would be to just dig his heels in and lie. He crossed over the kitchen and opened the fridge to pour some orange juice into a glass. "Maybe Sap's finally showing actual concern for poisoning us with that cocoa last night. I mean, you did spend a while in the bathroom, G-George..." He was halfway through pouring the orange juice when he remembered with a sinking feeling of dread that Dream  _ hated  _ orange juice. He glanced to see if Sapnap was watching before bringing it over to Dream anyways. Better safe than sorry. "Here George, maybe some orange juice will help fix you." He smiled, feeling only a little sorry for Dream about to have to drink his least favorite beverage. At least he hadn't accidentally made coffee…

Dream stared up at George for a few moments, a glare with nothing short of murderous intentions clear in his eyes. “Great. Thanks. That's just.. so great,” He grumbled through gritted teeth. Grabbing the drink, he set it to the side, fully intending to never pick it back up. “Anyways, what was in that cocoa?”

Sapnap shrugged, setting a finished pancake on a plate. “Honestly, nothing that I don’t normally put in. In fact, I don't think I even remembered to put marshmallows in. Is that what’s got you two acting so…  _ y’know _ ,” He rambled, cautious of calling the two  _ weird  _ whenever they were probably still annoyed with him.

Dream furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to come up with some witty insult that he imagined George would've thrown right there.

George longed to sass the youngest, snapback something sarcastic and then blame the whole thing with a joke. But he was better than this, shooting a glance towards Dream, he was stubbornly determined to prove that he could get along. "We're fine, what do you mean, Sap?" He asked innocently, walking over to Sapnap as he kept his eyes trained on Dream, a look in George's eyes daring him not to look away. He finally looked to Sapnap and ran a finger along the edge of his mouth to get a bit of stray syrup that remained from the pancake. He licked his thumb and dropped his voice a few octaves to whisper, "Maybe next time don't forget the marshmallows, though."

Sapnap let out a panicked noise as George spoke, followed by a loud cough from Dream. “ _ Dream _ , are you alright? You’re not acting like yourself,” He hinted, mouthing ‘what the fuck’ to the taller boy. Meanwhile, Sapnap looked like his brain had pretty much fried as he tried to comprehend what happened.

“I- you-  _ okay _ ,” Sapnap murmured out, staring off to the side as he questioned _ what the hell just happened. _

"What, George?" He questioned back, a little aggressively. "After all, I'm just being  _ nice  _ to one of my best friends, and  _ getting along _ ." He realized his words were a little too intentional, recalling back to their original conversation, but he had a point to prove. He was resolved to make sure Dream saw he could play nice, at least for an hour or two.

“Well,  _ Dream _ , don't you think you're being a bit  _ too friendly _ ?” He asked, his tone sharp as he glanced over at the very embarrassed Sapnap. The mentioned boy was glancing back and forth between the duo, sensing a weird amount of tension between the two. Dream was hardly paying any attention to him, though he said, “You don't wanna make Sapnap uncomfortable, yeah?” Sapnap tensed at the mention of his name, feeling like he was being pulled into an argument between a couple. “Um…” He trailed off, before busying himself with the dishes. “Why don't you two go ahead and eat?”

George glared at Dream. What did he want, for him to play nice or not? He thought he had been doing a great job. " _ Uncomfortable" _ his ass.  _ 'Dream's ass? No, best shut that line of thought down.' _

He was completely oblivious to Sapnap's flustered state when he finally broke the heated stare at Dream to go grab some food, thankful that the rest of breakfast was made up of things that both he and Dream liked. He cursed internally when he realized he couldn't brew some coffee for himself, but he supposed when Sapnap wasn't looking he would just take a sip of Dream's orange juice anyway.

Dream made his plate after George, biting his tongue to stop an instinctive “thanks” from slipping out. It was a habit for him to thank Sapnap anytime he cooked, but after the hard time he just gave George for being “out of character”, he figured he should put in a bit more effort to be like George. 

Once they were a bit away from Sapnap, though, he sharply whispered, “Can you not flirt with him when you're… me? There's a difference between being homiesexual and  _ actually fucking flirting with Sapnap _ .”

George turned bright red and spluttered, bits of food nearly escaping his mouth before he could clap a hand over his face. "I'm sorry,  _ what? _ " he hissed back. "I was being nice, I-  _ flirting? _ Dream, I was just acting like you!" His eyebrows were furrowed in anger and confusion. His heart was racing from the word and he thought back to his actions, truthfully he hadn't paid much attention to Sapnap, too focused on how Dream would react instead. Okay so maybe the action hadn't been entirely innocent. But,  _ "flirting"?? _

“Yeah,  _ flirting! _ Try not to get me a boyfriend, alright?” He sarcastically whisper-yelled, his cheeks warming slightly over his words. “I’m  _ straight _ , as cool as Sapnap is. Maybe don't make him question that?” 

The word straight came out in a painfully awkward way, which only succeeded in making him flush more, in embarrassment, not in a ‘crush’ way. Still, he tried to look tough and serious, though that proved challenging as he stared  _ up _ at George.

George froze, Dream's words crashing into him like a thousand sharpened icicles. He was straight, he knew he was straight. So then, why did it feel like he'd been hit by a wither in the heart? A pang of what he dared labelled as jealousy hit him before a sickening sensation of despair. What the actual fuck was he getting so worked up over. He looked down at Dream with a vacant expression. "Yeah..." he replied despondent, "Sorry, right. No boyfriends. Got it." He was basically forcing the words out by the end of the sentence. He turned away from Dream and stabbed a pancake, never before had looking at his own face been so difficult.

Dream looked over, a confused frown on his face. He wasn't quite sure what he'd said wrong, though he could tell that George was upset. “I.. um..” He started, intending to apologize for whatever he'd said to upset George, but the words died in his throat. Instead, he fell silent, staring down at the pancakes and trying not to think about it too hard. Still, anxieties swarmed in his brain, the very thought of George being upset at him making his heart pound so loud he couldn't hear any other thought. Maybe he'd offended George by suggesting he'd been flirting?

Shaking his head with a huff, he simply focused on the food in front of him, trying to eat as quickly as possible so he could hide away in his room and not deal with whatever was going on.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Top Google Searches:  
> "How to get changed respectfully in your best friend's body"  
> "Is it weird to look at your crush's body if you're in it"  
> "How to convince your roommate you're not a bodysnatcher"

The rest of breakfast passed in unbearable silence and George almost wished Sapnap would come back to break it with a dumb joke or two. Alas he'd long since vanished after washing dishes and hadn't returned. He scarfed down his food, distracting himself by staring at Dream's, or his current, hands. Occasionally he would tap against the counter or run a finger along the outside of his palm, just in curious fascination. He made sure that as he did his fun little experiments, Dream wouldn't see and call him out for being a weirdo. By the time he'd finished and placed his dishes in the dishwasher, he was fully prepared to just go back to his room, boot up Minecraft and ignore everything as he shut off his brain.

Right as Dream stood up to take his plate in the kitchen, desperate for a break from the suffocating silence, Sapnap walked into the room with an excited grin. He was wearing a new outfit - one that seemed suited for a day out. Realization clicked in Dream and he groaned quietly, recalling the plans they'd made a few days ago with Bad. “Is it already fair day?” He questioned as he rinsed his plate, earning a big nod from Sapnap. 

“Yeah! I know you're Mr. Introvert and you'd rather stay here- but Dream and I have been looking forward to this for forever! Plus Bad’s gonna tag along! We haven't seen him since he and Skeppy got a place together. C’mon, it'll be fun!” Sapnap rambled as he walked around, gathering the various things they'd need.

George griped, "I can't believe you woke us up at 3 AM the day before we made plans with Bad." Quietly he muttered under his breath a bitter, "Idiot." Internally, he wanted nothing more than to call both of them idiots, climb back into bed and sleep until 7 PM, not having to interact with anyone, let alone large hoards of people. Yet, he gave a sigh, knowing that in Dream's body that simply wasn't an option. He gave a strained smile towards Dream, hoping maybe he would pick up on his tone. "Yeah, I  _ reallly _ want to go, but I completely understand it if you don't want to go. Because that's totally valid and we could just, you know, not go at all, if  _ you  _ don't want." He emphasized, giving Dream a pointed look.

“Well,” Dream began, already sounding guilty for his answer, “I don’t want Bad to come all this way for no reason.” He shot an apologetic glance to George as Sapnap cheered, going over to George and punching his shoulder. “See, Dream! I told you George would agree to go if we invited Bad along too!” The younger exclaimed, hardly noticing as Dream quickly slipped away to avoid dealing with the repercussions of what Sapnap just said. It felt wrong for him to turn right at the end of the hall instead of left, going into George’s room to get changed into something more fitting for the fair. However, he froze as soon as he got to the closet. Would George even be okay with him changing outfits while in… his body? Should he find something to cover his eyes? He bit his lip, deciding to pick out an outfit first and worry about putting in on afterwards.

If looks could kill, Dream would be 6 feet under and George would never be able to get his body back from the cold grip of death. Sapnap may not have noticed Dream's exit, but George certainly did. Deciding to try his luck with Sapnap one last time, he stuck around the kitchen. Maybe he could work things out using a little 'Dream magic', which was just what George had named Dream's uncanny ability to sway people with little more than a smile and few words. "Sooo... D-George has been acting off today, right? Maybe he should stay behind, and as much as it pains me, I could also stay with him.” He was laying it on thick, he knew. None of the charm was there, just a slight beg as George truly considered the ramifications of going out, in Dream’s body, to meet up with Bad, surrounded by thousands of strangers. None of it sounded fun. The desperation leaked into his voice but at a certain point he didn’t really care. 

“Dream, I get you two are like... star-crossed lovers or something, but he’s a grown man. If he’s uncomfortable he can just say it, and we’re gonna have two cars anyways, so he can drive back in one then we can have Bad drop us off. Or, if you’re so insistent on protecting your sweet little boyfriend, you can drive back with him too if he has to go. He’ll be okay, alright?” Sapnap assured with a light chuckle, adding, “You’re always so protective of him, though you’re not usually this determined. What, did you guys finally make it official or something?”

Still bitter from the earlier conversation, anger bubbled through him. "He's not my boyfriend." He said, feeling a small pain in his chest. "I'm  _ straight _ , asshole." He growled out, hating how it sounded in Dream's voice, how real it made it seem. He forced himself to cool off, before speaking again. "Whatever, yeah, I'm sure he'll be fine."

He decided that for the entire trip he would just find a way to slip away from everyone, especially Sapnap and most certainly Dream. Maybe the bathrooms? It didn't seem like an awful idea. Once more, he could blame Sapnap's Suspicious Cocoa™️.

“Sorry- didn’t mean to strike a nerve there,” Sapnap apologized, throwing his hands up defensively, “Maybe I shouldn’t wake you two up at 3am anymore.” With that, he slipped away to his room, determined to escape the awkward tension and finish packing. For extra measure, he called Bad, both to check where their friend was and to have an excuse to avoid any arguments he might overhear in the next few minutes.

“It’s fine,” Dream said quickly, though the anxiety of embarrassment quickly swelled in him as he prepared to ask the question. “Hey, um, George… can I ask you something? But like- come in, I don’t want Sapnap hearing this. At all.”

Mild panic coursed through him but he nodded, shutting the door behind him as he entered his room. Despite the height difference not being extremely drastic, it looked different, and the cleanly made sheets served as a reminder that he hadn't slept here last night. He thought back on it, recalling how he'd woken up on Dream. He flushed lightly as the imagery finally hit him without the initial shock of "wait that's my body sleeping next to me". 

He stood, wringing his hands, next to the door. "What's up?"

“Um- okay, this is gonna sound weird. Is it cool if I- um- change clothes? And like… do you want me to cover my eyes or something? It’s kinda inevitable that we’re eventually gonna see…  _ y’know _ , since we’ll have to use the bathroom. But still- I just- I wanted to check and, I dunno, see if you’re cool with me getting changed in your body, I guess?” Dream awkwardly stumbled over his words, staring down at their feet to avoid meeting George’s gaze.

George blinked. He hadn't at all considered that. He was immediately self conscious and super aware of being in a body that wasn't his own. "Oh yeah, of course." He forced out a laugh, and what would've come out a nervous giggle with his own voice came out a choked noise of nervousness. He cleared his throat and nodded. "Yeah, I mean we're both guys." He offered weakly, although he knew he would probably go on to attempt to get dressed blindly lest he be tempted to stare into a mirror and never leave, drinking in every detail of Dream's body. Not in a weird way, but in that innocent sort of "this is the only time I'll physically be capable of doing this" way... totally innocent.

“Right. Yeah. Just… two guys. Who totally don’t care about that. Yeah. Okay. Cool,” Dream nodded, sounding totally unconvinced in himself. Nevertheless, he continued to nod in agreement, adding, “I’m chill with it so long as you are.” Yet, his cheeks were once again betraying him, showing his embarrassment on clear display. With an awkward cough, he turned back to the closet, reminding himself to focus on other things - such as what outfit he should wear. Despite many fans’ hopes, he really didn’t put much thought into the clothes he wore. Yet, here he was, attempting to convince himself that the only issue in the world was what outfit he should wear.

"Of course." he laughed out. "Why wouldn't I be?" He resisted from yelling a snappy  _ 'it's you who would have an issue with it' _ and decided to go a safer, softer alternative route. "Just don't dress me up in something dumb!" He quickly left, shoving away a need to stare at Dream's body in a mirror as he made his way for the closet. Tempted as he was, he picked out a plain outfit; a combination of jeans and a t-shirt he'd seen Dream wear before, marvelling at the color he could only assume was green. It was beautiful. He might have had to consider his stance on blue... 

He managed to get dressed with relative ease, doing most of the changing with his eyes scrunched shut. It was only during changing his underwear that he truly felt a moment of existential dread trying to navigate the unfamiliar body while avoiding it with his touch and hands. Why did this have to be so difficult?? 

A sigh of relief escaped him when he finally managed to get the pants on. He even opened his eyes in satisfaction before realizing he hadn't yet put on a shirt. Dream stared back at him from the mirror, shirtless and shocked. Then he turned bright red, eyes raking over the broad chest and finely tuned muscles from years of insisting he was more than just a nerd. It showed. He finally ripped his eyes away from the bright red on Dream's face and put on a shirt. 

He walked out to the living room, feeling slightly more confident and prepared to tackle the world. Slightly.

Dream took a while browsing through George’s closet, trying to come up with a very “George” outfit, despite it all being the stuff George would wear - why else would he even have it? Nevertheless, after what seemed like an eternity, he settled on black jeans and a long sleeved light blue shirt. He squeezed his eyes shut as he struggled with the clothes, though that resulted in a rather loud fall when he was attempting to get into the jeans. Despite that, he continued to attempt to get his clothes on blindly.

As he walked out of the room, he looked like he’d been through a war. His expression was one you’d expect to find on a wet cat; one of misery and terrible, terrible grumpiness. He went straight to the bathroom to brush his hair down, since the battle he’d waged against the shirt left him looking almost like he had a mohawk.

George watched Dream enter the living room, taking in his appearance. "Jesus christ, D-Uh, George. What the hell happened to you?" He cocked an eyebrow at his outfit. "And what the fuck are you wearing?"

Dream held up a finger, saying, “First - don’t ask. Just. Don’t.” He reached out with his other hand, grabbing a brush to smooth down his mess of a hair. “Second - what’s wrong with this?” He said, holding up a second finger.

George stayed silent for a moment, looking him up and down giving him an incredulous look. "Really? You need to ask? You're  _ way _ overdressed. Have you stepped outside your little air conditioned bubble today?" He gave a small chuckle.

Dream let out a deep sigh, staring up at George with a tired look. “Look- I don’t know what I should wear to look like you,” He admitted, adding, “I also wanted to pick something easy to put on blindly.”

George rolled his eyes. "Fine, your funeral." Looking around he noticed a significant lack of Sapnap. "I can't believe he's making us wait even longer, I just want to get this over with..." Glaring at the door, he raised his voice. "SAPNAP, LET'S GO!"

Almost immediately, Sapnap came out, a somewhat cautious look on his face. However, as soon as he saw Dream, he snorted. “Dude, you’re crazy if you think you’ll survive in that. Dream’s the only one weird enough to make it through a hot day in long sleeves and black pants,” He teased, earning an eye roll from the older boy. “Yeah yeah, Dream already told me. I’ll just get a shirt at the fair and change or something. Let’s go, okay?”

With a shrug, the youngest grabbed the car keys, tossing them towards George and saying, “Your turn to drive, Dream.”

George barely managed to catch the keys in his surprise. His brain whirred trying to make up excuses as he looked to Dream for salvation with panic in his eyes. He tried to keep his face neutral when he looked back to Sapnap. He let out a shabby scoff before chucking the keys back at him, hard. "As if, Snapmap. It's definitely your turn." If he couldn't think of an excuse, then he'd bluff his way out of this.

Sapnap rolled his eyes, shaking his head, “No. The hell? It’s  _ not _ , you’re gotten out of it multiple times be convincing me of that. It’s not gonna work again.” Dream glanced over at the keys, already beginning to envision his future demise as they were tossed back to George.

“You’re such an idiot, he literally drove us to the grocery store like two days ago, Sapnap,” Dream interjected. That was a complete and utter lie, but he hoped that if he sounded sure of it then they’d be able to convince Sapnap it was true. “He drives us, like, everywhere. It’s definitely your turn.”

Feeling that they've finally won the battle, George threw the keys back hard enough to satisfy his victory, hurting Sapnap only sweetened the pot. He smirked. "Yeah, come on, Bad won't wait forever!" He sang out, walking outside.

Sapnap let out a loud, over-exaggerated groan, but followed the boy out and got in the driver’s seat. Dream was the last out, though he immediately exclaimed, “Shotgun!”

Without waiting for a response, he got into the front seat, a wide smirk on his face at the knowledge of how uncomfortable George would find the backseat, especially with his newfound height.

George began to protest before giving up with a sigh and a brisk roll of the eyes. Sure, Dream could take the front, maybe then he'd stop being a whiny little bitch whenever George called shotgun. Clambering into the back, he found the discomfort a mild nuisance, but not unbearable. He could deal with this. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> George, Dream and Sapnap go to a fair and meet up with Bad for some fun. But it's all fun and games until someone cracks under the pressure...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Literal roller coasters AND figurative ones!

The drive passed fairly quickly, with only a few heart stopping moments as Sapnap played fast and loose with the rules of the road and questionably yellow lights. They arrived and George savored the feeling of being able to stretch his legs out. Maybe Dream had a point. Maybe. The relief was short lived, however, when he took in the large swaths of people. He already felt queasy looking around.

Dream got out of the car with a knowing smirk, fully expecting George to make some comment about feeling cramped. However, as soon as he saw the expression on the taller’s face, his smirk fell. Walking over, he nudged the other, offering a comforting smile once their gazes met. Their moment of peace ended almost instantly as Sapnap called out, “Bad! Over here! Don’t leave me to third wheel!”

George was snapped out of his reprieve of the moment by the arrival of their friend and his heart eased to a shocking degree at seeing their friend walking towards them with a friendly wave. Bad had that sort of soothing effect on people and George was grateful that in an uncomfortable situation where almost nothing made sense and he could almost feel the suffocating overwhelmingness beginning, Bad was a breath of fresh air.

“Hey Bad,” Dream murmured with a small wave, trying to conceal his excitement at seeing their older friend. He usually let most of his emotions remain on display - at least, most of his positive emotions - for anyone to see. Yet, as much as he wanted to bolt around the entire fair with Sapnap, he knew he had to sell that he was  _ George _ .

Sapnap, however, had no problem showing his excitement. He ran over, wrapping the oldest in a tight hug and exclaiming his name.

Bad oofed as Sapnap rammed into him, but immediately reciprocated the gesture as soon as he recovered. George walked closer to them, smiling at Bad. "It's good to see you, Bad." He said genuinely, not bothering to put up a mask when it was nice to see his friend. 

Bad pulled away to look at George. "You too, Dream!" 

George internally recoiled as he was brought back to reality with the name. He hid his disappointment and pointed towards the entrance, trying to divert everyone's attention away from him. 

"Now let's go. It's time for fun!" The line felt cheesy coming out, but there was no taking it back. George was already embarrassed enough and didn't need Dream teasing him about it so he marched on ahead of the group and directly into the throng of the public.

Dream cringed at the cheesy line, murmuring, “He sounds like a camp counselor, oh my god.” Nevertheless, he sped up to catch up with the taller, not wanting him to get left alone in a huge crowd like this. While the other two lagged behind a bit, he said, “Hey, if this gets overwhelming or something, let me know and I’ll come up with an excuse for us to leave. Okay?”

He was already starting to feel the pressing influence of all the bodies around him, but Dream didn't need to know that. "Yeah, sure, you simp. I'm fine." Appearances were everything. He might look like Dream, but he wanted to prove that he was fine, he would be fine and he was able to do it all alone. "Maybe talk that big talk after Sapnap convinces you to go on one of those big scary roller coasters." He grinned deviously, gesturing to where Sapnap was already eyeing the tallest coaster in the fair. Bad caught them lagging and yelled back at them, "Come on, you slow muffinheads! We're wasting daylight!"

Dream stared at the rollercoaster, feeling a wave of anxiety roll through him at the very thought of being on one. “R-right,” Was the only response he could manage before he hurried along to catch up with the rest. He figured he'd be able to talk his way out of any ride he didn't want to try, especially now that he could use George’s social anxiety as an excuse, though he didn't want to abuse that reasoning when it really wasn't exactly true for him.

“Alright, we gotta try out all the different games we can. Dream! Where do you wanna go first?” Sapnap questioned, a big grin spreading across his lips.

George looked down at Dream, then almost did a double take as he saw Sapnap staring up at  _ him _ . 

"Oh, right. Uh," he glanced at Dream and realized he was on thin ice, Dream was ruthless when it came to games like these, trying to crush the two of them and usually succeeding. He had to pick carefully, ensuring that they would be games he could win... Not his strong suit. 

He gulped nervously, looking around at the people and the lights and the games and the vendors all around. It was dizzying. He focused on one booth long enough to realize it was a bottle ring toss, good. Sapnap and he were both crap at it. Maybe Sapnap would be too busy losing to notice Dream's sudden degradation in fair game talent. 

"How about that one?" he nodded to the bottles with his chin. "Bet you suck at that one." He hoped his smirk was enough to properly fuel Sapnap's competitive stupidity.

"Oh, it’s  _ on _ . Today’s the day I finally crush you at all of your favorite games, Dream. I hope you’re ready to defend your honor,” Sapnap declared dramatically, puffing his chest out slightly and grinning. There was a determined glint in his eye, though he was so focused on challenging the taller that he didn't notice the mischievous smirk on Dream’s face.

“Oh hey, I’m always down to beat Dream and you at your own games. Mind if I join in?” He spoke in an innocent tone that any friend of his would recognize as his “I’m gonna crush everyone here” tone. Yet Sapnap didn’t seem to catch on, likely because it came from “George”. So the youngest nodded, seeming overjoyed that “George” would finally be joining in on their competition instead of mocking it from the sidelines.

Dream glanced up at George, hoping he would catch onto what he was attempting to do. His plan was to distract Sapnap so much by the sudden sharp increase in “George’s” abilities that he wouldn't notice “Dream’s” sudden decrease.

“Of course you can join in, idiot. You came along, might as well play,” Sapnap teased, earning a somewhat menacing chuckle from Dream.

“Right, of course. Might as well play,” The shortest said, already walking towards the ring toss. Sapnap followed not far behind.

George only stared at Dream like he was crazy. Not picking up on whatever the hell he was thinking, George grabbed his arm and asked "Are you sure, George?" He tried to give Dream a look, waggling his eyebrows as if they could send Morse code. "You... Aren't the best at these things." It felt bad to put himself down, but he had to dissuade Dream from joining them. Was he trying to blow their cover?

“Hm… y'know, I think today’s my lucky day. Besides, if you two are gonna drag me here against my will, I might as well do what I can to enjoy it,” Dream said with a shrug, adding, “though I think Sapnap should pay. Y'know, as compensation for putting me through this.”

This earned a groan from the youngest, though he gave no protest aside from grumpy grumbles as he pulled out his wallet.

Bad watched in amusement, ready to see the three boys get competitive as he gladly stuck to the sidelines and cheered them on. Glancing at George, who was unbeknownst to him was Dream, he was surprised to find him actually playing. Maybe he was hoping the other two would go easy on him. Tough luck there, he thought sadly. Dream and Sapnap never went easy on him. He leaned forward to enjoy the show and engage when necessary. 

George, in Dream's body, on the other hand, was leaning as far away as he could from the bottle toss booth, as if though leaning far enough would help him escape from the situation. The nerves of being completely surrounded by strangers was forgotten in the face of the full blown anxiety he would receive from being caught because he can't throw a fucking ring onto a bullshit bottle that was probably rigged. "You got this, George!" Whooped Bad from the side and George smiled up at him momentarily before realizing he was talking to Dream, somewhere further behind him. He awkwardly pretended to be smiling at a prize or something before turning away. George grabbed a ring in mild annoyance and threw... the ring landed near Sapnap's feet and George was about ready to just curl up in shame.

“Ohhh, looks like someone’s out of practice,” Sapnap teased, a cocky smirk spreading across his face. He was the next to toss a ring, though his cocky smirk became a slight frown as it barely missed the bottle. “Rigged,” He huffed, turning to Dream.

Dream giggled at Sapnap’s failure, taunting, “Looks like someone  _ else _ is out of practice too. Ha!” He knew that everything about this was unusual for George to do, but he couldn't help but participate. He was already thinking up excuses in the back of his mind as he casually tossed out the ring, feeling a swell of pride as it landed on a nearby bottle.

Bad whooped to cheer on George, pretty surprised himself. George's shame was short-lived with Dream's stellar performance. Even if he couldn't one-up Sapnap, he could always count on Dream to do it for him. 

"Yeah, I might be out of practice. But you're literally letting  _ George _ beat you. Sucks to suck, huh?" He gave a smug smile, getting the satisfaction of "beating" Sapnap. 

He turned back to look down on Dream giving him a softer smile and mouthing out a small " _ Thanks, now crush him. _ " as he silently stepped out of the way to let the two boys duke it out.

“Oh shut up, you got a lucky throw. Do I have to remind you of the millions of times you've utterly failed at every game here?” Sapnap remarked, tossing his second ring. This one barely missed as well, and Dream struggled to hold back his signature wheeze.

“And yet I bet I’ll land this next shot. You'll be lucky if you manage to land any,” Dream laughed out as he tossed his next ring, a smirk of victory covering his lips as it landed on the bottle.

The duo continued to bicker as they threw their next rings, both of them landing their final shot. Dream immediately looked back at George, hoping for some sort of praise for totally crushing Sapnap. “Hey, D-Dream, you wanna pick out a prize?” He offered, gesturing at all of the cheesy plushies hanging above them.

George was surprised at the offer, the satisfaction of watching Sapnap be bested by "him" had been more than enough. "Really? Well, uh, if you're sure..." he looked at all the prizes and spotted a small green bird plushie. It was nothing elaborate, or even the largest that they had the opportunity to pick, but something about it reminded him of Dream. It was perfect. He pointed, and Bad let out a disappointed gasp. 

"Isn't that the smallest one, Dream? You could get a huge one like that one over there!" Bad excitedly gestured to a giant panda plushie that hung from the ceiling. George shook his head, flushing slightly even though his intentions weren't known. "The bird is perfect." he said simply. Bad shrugged and smiled anyway "It  _ is _ a cute little muffin. Kind of reminds me of you." he tittered out. George cussed internally, was it that obvious? Whatever, it was a cute plushie.

Dream smiled at the little plush bird, hardly able to contain the joy it brought him knowing George picked something that resembled him over all of the other plushies. However, he made no comment about that, not wanting to make the older boy defensive or embarrassed. Instead, he simply said, “Good choice.”

He then turned his attention to Sapnap, who was still seemingly in shock over “George’s” sweeping victory. The younger scowled for a bit, before declaring, “Alright, there's no way you're beating me at anything else. Come on.” Grabbing onto Dream’s wrist, he pulled the shortest forward to find another game, ignoring the protests he let out.

George watched the two go on to the next game and as he lagged behind he quickly found his happiness fading. He clutched the bird closer to his chest as he felt the familiar stress creeping into his brain.

They were having fun, why did his mind have to do this to him? He felt choked as he followed, he put an easy smile on his face to mask his growing anxiety and ignored the countless people walking by. However, he couldn't hide the way he flinched whenever their little group entered a thicker patch of crowd. After a few minutes, it was noticeable even by Bad. 

"Hey Dream, are you alright? You look a little pale." Bad asked in concern. 

George jumped. "M-me? Yeah, no I'm fine... I'm just thinking about those roller coasters over there, you know how I am." Bad looked unconvinced but dropped it.

Dream glanced back at the question, intending to check on the older, but was pulled forward once more. He made a mental note to get a moment alone with the boy. Unfortunately, for now he was busy bouncing from game to game with Sapnap, taking immense joy in the confusion and hurt pride in the youngest’s eyes with every game he dominated at. Each prize he earned was given away, whether to Bad, Sapnap, George, or a random person walking by.

Eventually, Sapnap had decided to accept defeat and move on to rides. “So,” The boy said, holding the small panda plushie he'd won from a game, “what ride are we gonna try first? No roller coasters since  _ someone _ can’t handle heights.”

Bad pouted. "Aww no roller coasters? Well I guess we could go on the kiddie rides or," he glanced around and spotted something in the distance. "we could go on that giant spinning thing!" 

George looked to where Bad was pointing, finding that his description was surprisingly accurate, unable to think of many other words to describe it. It was so unlike anything he'd ever seen before, but looked fun. 

As the group made their way over after a vague sound of intrigue from Sapnap, they entered one of the biggest crowds as the people around them also waited for the attraction. 

He felt sick. He wanted to leave more than anything else. Above plushies, above roller coasters, above time with Dream, he wanted the quiet unbusy silence of his room as he cuddled Cat. 

He gulped down his anxiety and kept his eyes firmly locked on the ride and convinced himself this would be worth it for the moment of adrenaline that awaited him.

Dream kept his eyes glued on George, mostly since he feared losing his friends in the crowd. However, as he saw the growing look of anxiety on the other, he figured he should try to do  _ something _ to soothe the boy’s anxiety.

Hesitantly, he reached out, tapping on the boy’s hand for two reasons. First- he wanted to make his presence known, and capture his attention. Second, he wanted to offer to hold hands to calm him down, at least temporarily.

George's eyes jumped to Dream at the touch, and while it wasn't inherently comforting to see his own face staring up at him in concern, he was appreciative of the distraction. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and looked nervously towards the other two. They appeared to be deep in passionate debate about what type of muffin was better. He cautiously accepted the hand, wrapping his pinky around Dream's in a minuscule movement. It was a weird experience, holding his own hand by using a hand that wasn't originally his own. It was foreign, but familiar. He decided that it wasn't awful, especially when he reminded himself every five seconds that it was Dream by his side holding his hand making him feel safe and secure. He leaned into Dream's side and was delighted to find he could rest his head on top of his. He let out a silent giggle.

Dream was acutely aware of the height difference, but he decided that, for the moment, it really didn’t matter. It felt weird, seeing someone in his own body holding onto him in their body - but it was George, so it didn’t really matter to him. A small smile spread across his lips, relishing in the contact. “If you wanna go, we can go,” He muttered out, looking up at the taller boy.

George let out a heavy sigh. "No, I need to stick around. It'll just look weird if I leave right now." He glanced up at the bright flashing ride that they were close to getting on. "Besides, maybe a fun ride will be just what I need to relax." He lifted his head to glance down at Dream with a smirk. "Even if you're a big baby about them."

Dream let out an exaggerated huff, though his smile didn’t falter. “They’re  _ scary _ , okay? I’m usually high up enough on my own, I don’t need any help getting higher. Not like you’d understand,” He joked, sticking his tongue out at the blond.

"Well I do now, idiot." George stuck his tongue out back before realizing they'd finally made their way to the front of the line. He squeezed Dream's hand quickly, letting go just before Sapnpa and Bad turned to look at them, big, eager grins on their faces. "Alright! Ready to scream?" Bad asked innocently enough, but somehow the way he said it just sounded as though it shouldn't come from his mouth. George suppressed a laugh and nodded with a smile. They climbed the metal stairs to the boarding area and his face fell. The rides were three seaters, and Sapnap and Bad had already entered the cart, Dream being ushered in after them. Leaving him. Outside. Alone. He paled. Bad seemed to notice the dilemma, although maybe not the internal plight occurring within George as he looked up from the seat. "Oh, sorry, Dream! We'll meet you on the other side, or you can just wait for us, right?" George swallowed thickly and nodded, giving a small wave as their ride took off. This was fine. He would be fine. He just had to make it to the other side and wait for them. He quickly slid out of line and fixated his vision on the exit of the ride, sleepwalking with a mission. His arrival did little to ward off the rising tension he felt. He leaned against the sturdy metal fencing and tapped a nervous foot as he crossed his arms. He must've looked like the cool brooding guy, because not two seconds later a girl came up to him with a bright wide look that fixed directly on  _ him _ .

He could almost hear his heart beating outside his ears. "Helloooo!" Cooed the girl in a sugary sweet tone. Strangers in a crowd? Bad. Strangers coming out of the crowd to talk to him? Worse. Strange conventionally attractive girls who he suspected came here only to flirt with him while he occupied his friend's body? Worst. He managed to keep his voice level enough to stammer out a small, "Hi." He was no longer in the relaxed lean, but instead slowly curling on himself, trying to turtle away from the situation. The girl's smile was toothy. "I'm Veronica, by the way. Did you come here alone?" Her tone was innocent enough in nature but her eyes made him sick. He wasn't good at conversation, at all. What was he supposed to say here? He shook his head, staying silent. She seemed displeased by his answer, he really couldn't care less. She let out a tiny tsk before plastering on another sickeningly sweet look of false intrigue as she pointed to the plushie in his arms. "You must be really good at these games, could you show me? I'm soooooo bad at them~"

Dream kept his gaze on George, already feeling guilt swell in him for taking the third spot. However, as soon as the bright-eyed girl flashed that sickeningly sweet smile at the anxious boy, he knew exactly what was happening. It occurred to him more times than he admitted; a brave girl would approach him, giving a toothy grin and feigning intrigue for whatever he was doing at the time. But for some reason, witnessing it from afar, and knowing it was directed at  _ George _ \- it made a terrible feeling boil in him. He felt something close to anger, but not quite. He didn’t hate her - after all, he was fine when it happened to him - but when he watched the uncomfortable recoil, he felt a burning under his skin. He counted the seconds as he observed the two, wondering when the ride would finally be over. All he wanted was to rush to the other’s side, spew out some bullshit excuse to get him out of the situation, and run far away from here. He wished he’d given into George’s attempts to stay home; just the two of them, far away from pretty, sweet-talking girls that were brave enough to shoot their shot, and in the safety of their house. Maybe they’d play stupid board games, or binge crappy TV shows, or even play Minecraft for hours. Either way- they’d be far away from this, and far away from  _ her _ . Instead, she was the one at his side, while Dream sat trapped in the ride as a distant observer.

He wanted out.

George, once more, shook his head. His eyes flicked over to the still moving ride, as if that might save him. It didn't. He looked back down to the expectant girl.  _ Jesus christ, she was short. _ "I- My, uh, friend, that I came with, actually won them. Not me." He finished lamely. Why hadn't she left yet? Her expression was anything but pleased, he could even see her right eyes starting to twitch out of anger.  _ Good, maybe she'll get the hint and leave. _ Alas, her sickly sweet smile stayed, as did she. Distantly, he noticed the ride end. Though, the fog in his head and panic in his chest was making it pretty difficult to concentrate on much else than the source of his discomfort.

"Well, that's okay! Y'know we could even go learn together, right? And," she placed a hand on his upper arm and he almost physically recoiled "you could give me some hands on experience."

Where was Dream when he needed him most?

Right on cue, Dream appeared by the distressed boy’s side, literally pushing his way in between the two. “Nah, he’s good. You should go find someone else to harass, since he’s busy spending time with people who he actually likes. It doesn’t take a psychologist to see that he’s uncomfortable- but hey, maybe you’re too busy staring at his biceps to notice. Now kindly fuck off,” He spoke quickly, his tone getting sharper and sharper with each word. Despite not being in his usual, bigger body, he did his best to appear intimidating. Usually, he’d much rather handle it politely, and he knew this was nothing like how George acted. But in the moment, he didn’t care how anyone normally would have handled the situation. He just wanted to get George away from her.

Bad stood on the outskirts, eyes round and glasses skewed and apparently too shell shocked from what he'd just witnessed to throw down a proper " _ Language! _ " George looked similarly, though his expression held much more relief in it as his breathing went back to normal and heart rate began to slow to a functioning rate. Veronica's expression of shock, however, was rapidly overtaken by an infuriated scowl holding none of the sugary sweetness from before. She dropped her arm and her fake kindness. Apparently the rude introduction from an outside source was finally enough to snap her out of her guise. "Um, excuse me? And who the fuck do you think you are interrupting us when we're clearly in the middle of a  _ private _ conversation and just tell me to 'fuck off'?" Her tone was sharper than the impractical stilettos she wore. George shuffled closer to Dream, hoping to somehow escape being wedged between the girl and the metal fence.

“I’m his  _ best friend _ ,  _ bitch _ . And really - you wanted a private conversation  _ in the middle of an amusement park _ ? Are you stupid?” He hissed out, his brown eyes narrowing into a piercing glare. It certainly wasn’t anger that he was feeling before, but now, it was pure rage. “Leave  _ him _ alone, leave  _ me _ alone, and leave  _ everyone here _ alone. You’re making everyone uncomfortable, and you’re too much of an idiot to realize it. Do us all a favor and learn a neat little thing called social cues.”

Sapnap, who was the last to get off of the ride, was gawking at the scene in front of him. Dream - who was usually the bravest of the group - was basically hiding behind George, while George - the one who  _ hated _ confrontation - was basically getting into a yelling match with some random stranger. “Uh…?” Was all he could manage, turning to Bad for some sort of explanation.

Bad shrugged back at Sapnap, looking equally confused then turned back to watch with cautious interest in case he had to step in and intervene. The girl looked ready to claw out George's eyeballs, while the brunet was glaring back like he was ready to punch her lights out. 

The other George, now cowering behind Dream, gave a gentle tug to his sleeve as a warning gesture. The girl didn't get the clues, she didn't seem to get any of the clues. "Look here, buddy." She started out aggressively. "Maybe you're the one who needs to learn social cues! Some "best friend" you are when you're stopping him from catching the best snatch of his life." She scoffed, waving a manicured hand angrily, like she was swatting pesky thoughts out of the air. "Y'know what fuck this and fuck you guys, he's not even all that worth it anyway. Have a shitty night, losers." Bad finally had half a mind to shout "Language!" At her. It went ignored. She swiveled around after her self righteous tangent and came face to face with a stunned looking Sapnap. She glared up at him for a moment, then her face eased into a sly smile. She winked, blew a kiss and then strutted away. George watched her walk away in disbelief, still unable to find the words to give voice to whatever the fuck just happened to him.

Sapnap stood in stunned silence, attempting to process the millions of different emotions he was feeling. Then, all he could manage was, “Um… guess I missed something?”

Meanwhile, Dream was fuming, fighting the urge to argue and argue until she finally admitted she was wrong. Instead, he took a deep breath, then turned back towards George with a sheepish look. “Sorry,” He mumbled out, like a child caught breaking a rule. He wasn’t quite sure what he was sorry about, but as his rage died down, he figured he probably shouldn’t have gotten involved. For a few moments, his thoughts drifted back to that unidentifiable feeling that had swarmed his mind back on the ride. But he ignored those thoughts, and focused on the boy in front of him.

George's eyes went even wider at the apology. "Wh- Dr- Uh, George, don't be sorry, I really... Needed the assist." It felt shameful to admit, like he hadn't been strong enough to deal with it on his own. Bad stepped in, "Yeah, George! Maybe you want a little bit um, too muffiny on her, but Dream looked..." he trailed enough, his enthusiasm dying as he struggled to find the right word that wouldn't offend Dream. "Like he wasn't handling it well." Bad finished. George kicked the ground.

“Yeah! I didn’t know you could go off on someone like that without them waking you up at 3am,” Sapnap joined in, a friendly teasing tone to his voice as he ruffled the brunet’s hair. Dream swatted away the tanned hands, rolling his eyes at the youngest’s snicker. “Dream did fine, it’s hard to know what to do in those situations. I-I mean, I think it’d be pretty hard. I wouldn’t know,” He rambled quickly, attempting to reassure George the best he could. For the first time in seemingly forever, he felt like his “social battery” had died, and he was ready to go home. Most importantly, he wanted to go home with George, to make sure there were no more issues with the annoying blonde. Nevertheless, he flashed a strained smile to the group. “So, uh, what are we doing next?” He questioned, subconsciously taking a step towards George as he spoke. He decided not to let the other out of his sight until they were away from here.

Bad pulled a wicked smirk. He pointed to the tallest roller coaster, looking at each of them. "I think it's coaster time!" He said jubilantly. And as much fun as that would have sounded on any other day, George would've jumped at the opportunity. He would've had fun and enjoyed the spike of adrenaline as his body was flung through gravitational forces. However, he was not in his body, and he felt sick after the interaction with the platinum blonde. He really had to get away, and was, for once, grateful that he was in Dream's body and could use the upcoming coaster as an excuse. He gave a weak smile to Bad and Sapnap. "I think I'm going to sit this one out, guys." He said, trying his best to mimic a Dream way of speaking, despite his distress. "I'll go use the washroom, maybe we just... meet up at the ring bottle toss game afterwards?" He proposed and Bad smiled warmly at the offer. 

"Sure, Dream! Maybe you can work on your toss while you're over there." He let out a good natured laugh then turned to Sapnap and Dream George. 

"You muffins ready to see who will scream the loudest?" He enthused with a determined simper. George began walking in the vague direction he remembered seeing restrooms, not really caring if he ended up over there. As dark storm clouds rolled into cloudy skies, what little of the sun had been out vanished and it began to sprinkle. It would only be a matter of time before it became a torrential downpour.

Dream stared at the coaster with wide eyes, feeling his stomach drop at even the thought of going on the terrifying ride of probable death. His brain raised for an excuse to leave, or a moment he could slip away. Then it hit him, as he watched the tallest scurry off to the restrooms. “As much fun as that sounds, someone should go check on G-Dream. He seems really shaken up after everything with that girl and-” Dream began his excuse, though he was quickly cut off by Sapnap. “I can go!” The youngest instantly volunteered, and Dream had to bite back a smile at the enthusiasm. Still, he shook his head, explaining, “It’s alright, I caught most of the exchange anyways. You and Bad go have fun, we’ll meet up with you soon.” Dream left before the others had a proper chance to argue, hurrying to the bathrooms. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dense fools. So dense. Much like the clouds as they accumulate and dump down on the poor fair goers.

As a native Floridian, he’d been to this amusement park plenty of times and had the path pretty much memorized. He arrived there in almost no time, glancing around for the blond.

George, on the other hand, being an not-so-native Floridian had somehow gotten lost in his anxiety induced fog state. He checked a map and groaned as he corrected his path towards the washroom. He arrived to see Dream already waiting for him there. He smiled as he approached him under the brightly striped awning of the gross bathrooms. "What, are you stalking me now, Dream?"

“Maybe so,” Dream said with a sly grin as he leaned against the wall. He’d been waiting patiently for the other, trusting that he’d eventually find his way here. “So… enjoying the fair?” His grin slid into a thoughtful frown as he planned out his questions carefully. As much as he wanted to be direct with his questions, he knew that it was easy to say the wrong thing and chase away the oldest. So every word he said would be carefully picked, an open invitation to say what was on his mind while hopefully not making him feel cornered. It was hard to get George to open up, but he sure as hell had to try.

George shot him an incredulous look. "Really?" He deadpanned, not picking up on Dream's subtlety at all. "It hasn't been obvious that I'm miserable?" He sank against the wall to sit on the floor, staring out at the few people passing by in this quieter area. "As if things weren't weird enough already, I have to put up with giant crowds, pretend to be you to our friends and deal with girls you would otherwise be flirting with  _ you _ ." The last part came out more bitter than he meant to. He felt embarrassed for some reason. With a heavy sigh he changed the subject. "I... miss your face." He admitted quietly, not looking at Dream. As he had predicted, the light sprinkle was now coming down in buckets, almost drowning out his last words.

Dream sank down beside him, silently taking in everything he said. He leaned in slightly to hear the words above the heavy rain. The admission took him by surprise, and he felt a strange flutter in stomach in response. “I miss seeing your face too,” He murmured, though he kept his gaze on the taller boy beside him. “Honestly, I miss you being able to be…  _ you _ . I’m so shitty at pretending to be you, man. You’re witty and sarcastic in all the best ways- but, I’m just…  _ me _ . I miss the way it was when we weren't pretending to be each other.”

George could feel his heart stutter and his entire body turning a pleasant type of warm he was sure reached his face. He quickly looked away and out towards the sheets of water. He decided to resort to his usual coping method of dealing with the fluttery feeling; laughter. He let nervous giggles escape that sounded unnatural in Dream's voice. "Who would've thought that our regular dumbass selves were fine as they were?" The question was rhetorical but the silence was comfortable. After a moment, he looked back to Dream. "Do you think this is some sort of moral lesson to us changing... Or something stupid like that...?"

Dream let out a thoughtful hum, remaining quiet as he gave genuine thought to what George said. “Hm… you know, maybe so. I still think it’s tied to those wishes, somehow,” He leaned his head against the taller as he spoke, closing his eyes with another hum, though this one was more of a content hum. “What did you wish for, if you don’t mind me asking?”

He had forgotten. George had completely forgotten in this tranquil moment of peacefulness. This was, in all likelihood, his fault. He coughed out a few more nervous laughs. "Um... Yeah, about that... I take back the lesson thing, this might be my fault." The once fluttery warmth was replaced by a light sensation of burning shame. He inched away nervously, in anticipation of the accusatory questions he was most likely about to receive.

“Wait- what do you mean? Did you wish for this?” Dream questioned, tilting his head. He didn't sound mad- simply very, very confused. “I kinda thought it was my fault, since my wish could've been interpreted as this if you really stretch. But, did you wish to trade places or something?”

"What? No! Listen, you're really cool and technically more "successful" and sure you're really attractive and I think you're super funny and charismatic which just makes you way more sociable with people and you're taller which is just an all around bonus and let's face it Dream, despite being having moments of idiocy you're extremely smart and just so kind and-" He cut himself off as he realized he'd literally just been rambling on about Dream. Was he trying to embarrass himself further? It would've been fine to just tell Dream what'd wished for from the get go. "A-anyway... No, I wished to be..." he paused, feeling the full childish stupidity of his wish crash over him. "As tall as you. I mean really, it was a dumb wish because I didn't actually expect it  _ to work _ . Wishing on stars actually working? That doesn't even happen in Disney films!" he finished defensively. "Besides, I'm sure your wish wasn't much better, what was yours?"

Dream was a silent, flustered mess as he processed all of George’s words for a few moments. It was rare for him to receive any compliments from the boy - let alone that many in rapid succession. Then, he let out a small,  _ ”Oh.” _ He paused, wondering if he should share his wish too, or brush it off. Finally, he explained, “Well- my wish is a bit s-stupid. It’s nothing important, just a dumb little, uh, sentimental thing. But you're probably not the only one at fault. I think it's a mixture of our wishes.”

George hummed a vague noise of agreement before he considered Dream's words a little more fully. "What do you mean a mix?" The confusion mixed with curiosity as he looked to Dream.

“Uh- I dunno,” He let out a nervous chuckle, before elaborating, “I guess like- our wishes mixed together could, uh, lead to this?” His responses were vague, but honestly, he wasn't sure how to even explain the wish. It was just the first thing that came to his mind. Why, though? Why was George “knowing how he feels” the first thing he thought to wish for?

George looked just as confused as before but decided not to push him on it, maybe it was just a private matter relating to his personal life... or something... But then why would George be involved enough to have their wishes mix? His chest tightened lightly as he thought about Dream's wish involving him. Unlike the crushing suffocation he would feel from anxiety and unwanted interaction, the tightness was a nagging almost inviting feeling urging him to realize...  _ something _ . It was obvious that Dream took this whole wish stuff; he didn't share his wish, he had shared the whole thing so passionately and his expression staring up at the stars and quietly wishing on the stars had been so peaceful and handsome...  _ Wait, what was that last one-? _

"Why do you believe this wish stuff so much anyway? I mean, it's not like you've switched bodies before." He laughed off his previous thoughts, before he suddenly stopped to squint at Dream. "Right?"

“No, oh god no. If I did, I’d know how to get us out of this mess. I used to not really believe in wishes at all - I thought it was just a silly little thing you tell kids. But, uh, a little while back I was out watching a meteor shower with my sister and she told me the whole wish thing. I doubt she believed in it, but it’s always fun to try, y’know? I remember sitting there, focusing so hard on finding the brightest meteor that I forgot to think about my wish. I froze up and panicked when I found it, and just wished for the first thing that came to mind. I wished that you and Sapnap would move in with me. Then, a few days later, you two called me and began giving genuine thought into moving in. Within a month, we had flights planned and everything. So… I guess I believe in them because that wish came true,” Dream rambled, feeling a bit of anxiety bubble in him as he spoke. He hoped it wouldn’t sound ridiculous; he’d been told by others before that believing in wishes was childish. Still, the story meant a lot to him. A gentle smile grew on his lips as he thought back to that month, and when they’d first moved in with him.

George marveled at how gentle and genuine the smile filling his own face was. He hadn't seen a smile so happy in quite a while. It was almost self-indulgently cathartic. Even more so was the the way the tightness in his chest seemed to blossom at the cause of the smile.  _ Dream _ . He'd half-expected some sort of semi-interesting story about his childhood, not something like that. He felt warm and happy at the story in guilty pleasure. George glanced his eyes upward to where the clouds were quickly retreating and showing peeks of blue sky up above. 

He thought about that first month, how chaotic it had been as they navigated around being each other full time 24/7 and learnt all the negatives and positives they never could have known over a screen. Also who's sleep schedule was most fucked. Also who gave the best cuddles as they sat in a darkened room, a bowl of popcorn forgotten somewhere beside the three of them on the couch. Also how, no matter how good of a cuddler Sapnap might be, the way Dream's arms around him felt so right- he quickly realized with a startle what the feeling flourishing in his heart and lungs was.  _ Love _ ? No, no. He must be mistaken. The first month was a mess. A disaster. Nothing good could have from it. But more and more memories came flooding in of sweet moments stolen between the two of them when Sapnap wasn't there or looked away. And more recently he thought of the girl and how disgusted he felt as she flirted with "Dream". He didn't hate that girl (okay maybe he did), he hated how boldly she strived for Dream's attention when all he could do was act like an angry kitten who begged for attention while refusing to admit that's what he wanted.

What the hell was he supposed to do with this? He could feel panic drowning out the blossom. Why the hell did he have to realize this now when he couldn't just sulk out these feelings from the comfort of his own room in his  _ own body _ . He was aware his face was growing increasingly pinker, but he had more pressing things to worry about. Like what the fuck he was supposed to do now. Confess? Hell no. Dream's words from earlier rang like broken crystals in his ears. " _ I'm straight. _ " At least now he realized why those words had felt like jumping into a frozen lake. Because he never stood a chance. He felt like crying. 

Ultimately, he decided, wishes were dumb. 

Thankfully, he didn't have to think too much about what to do with this realization because Bad came running up to them from the distance, drenched from head to toe. He looked disgruntled but relieved to see them. "What took you guys so long?" He huffed out as he reached them. "The coaster closed due to the rain and lightning-"  _ There had been lightning? _ George wondered as he briefly looked up to the sky. "So we came to find you guys and Sapnap got a map but it turns out he held the map upside down so we went to the opposite side of the fair before realizing we were in the wrong area and by then we were completely soaked so we ran all the way here and now we've found you!" He finally finished, a little breathless as he finished recounting the adventures. George scooted away from Dream and got up to join Bad and Sapnap who trailed behind a fair distance. It seemed the rain hadn't been any kinder to him.

“Look- it’s not my fault they didn’t clarify which was up and which was down,” Sapnap defended with a slight pout, earning an amused eye roll from Dream. “Anyways, we gotta head home soon. It’s already, like, 4pm, and I’ve got a stream in an hour,” He reminded the group, pulling out his phone midway through to check the time. As if on cue, a timer went off of his phone, set to remind him of the stream. He turned it off and began to lead the group back towards their respective cars.

“Finally,” Dream muttered under his breath once they reached their car. As much as he loved playing games and sitting around as he talked to George, he was fairly certain they could do pretty much the same at home without the added stress of  _ certain _ people. The only downside was that they couldn’t have Bad around. Dream turned to the previously mentioned boy before getting in the car (he decided to give George the front seat this time), saying, “You should visit more often. Before today, we hadn’t seen you in ages.”

"Awww, George missing me already?" Bad asked in a light hearted joking manner, looking at the three of them happily. "It's really nice to have you guys here in Florida, we definitely should. Maybe if you muffinheads came up to the North we could visit more often." He agreed then waved goodbye, receiving waves from the other two as well before walking towards his car somewhere else in the parking lot. After everyone had heaped into the car and Sapnap started driving, an easy sleepiness fell over the interior. George, despite having a fitful mind from the recent realization, fell victim to the atmosphere and found himself quickly slipping into an empty headspace in sleep.

Dream stayed awake during the car ride, as relaxing as it was, and let his mind wander to the events that had occurred at the restroom. He couldn’t help but smile rather fondly as the memory which he would no doubt cherish for a while. In recent weeks, he’d found himself making many of those types of memories with George; soft, genuine moments that left a light feeling in his heart. Those moments were hard to explain - he’d shared millions of genuine moments with his friends, yet there was something about George that made it feel so different to him. Like the night they’d shared staring up at the meteors, when they made those fateful wishes. He thought back to his question -  _ ”Do you believe in wishes?” _ \- and George’s response -  _ ”Maybe... with you here.” _ \- that he had yet to get time to truly process. What was that supposed to mean? Why did Dream being there make wishes so special? Questions bubbled in his mind, most remaining unanswered, as they arrived back at their home.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to stream! Nothing will go wrong. Probably.

Sapnap was the one to wake up George while Dream carried in their various prizes, placing them in each of their rooms. He decided to leave the plush parrot in George’s room, hoping they would already be switched back to their regular selves by the time it was noticed.

George awoke, no less stable or soothed than when he fell asleep. His heart still felt crushed from the sudden realization and denial of love. Love was fleeting. And dumb. He hated this. As he dragged himself out of the car and into the house he tried to work himself into some sort of headspace to stream. It was a comfort zone; them streaming together. It would be familiar and safe. He hoped. It wasn’t anything too extravagant, just messing around on the SMP while Sapnap attempted to “build an army base of which no one can dare rival” supposedly. The stress of having to act like Dream in front of what would most likely be 40k viewers was starting to get to him, but it would be nothing compared to having to try to flirt with Dream or just act as casually as Dream could. Maybe if he just stayed quiet and practiced parkour or something in the background, no one would notice his behavior being off. Or did that already count as his behavior being off? Dream could be quiet on occasion. He ran a hand through soft blond locks. He was already exhausted and they hadn’t even started. 

Dream was no less panicked about the upcoming stream. Luckily for him, George was usually pretty quiet during streams, so he wouldn’t have to talk too much. Still, it had proven near-impossible to pretend to be George in front of their friends - but in front of thousands of people that were convinced they knew the group like the back of their hands? Yeah, there was no way this was gonna go down smoothly. He took a deep breath, assuring himself that they’d get through it was little to know issues, though he knew that was very likely not true.

George entered the Sapnap declared "Gamer Cave" and went to his computer instinctively before realizing, then quickly pretending that he was looking for something instead. He sat down at Dream's chair, sinking into the soft, comfortable material and tried to silently assure himself everything would be alright. As he booted up Minecraft, he glanced over to Sapnap. "So what exactly is the plan today?" He questioned, trying not to let Dream's voice sound as bitter and dry as he felt. He hoped to get an idea of what they were doing  _ before _ Sapnap went live, at least just to have some sort of false sense of control over the situation.

“I’m building an army,” Sapnap remarked casually as he booted up his computer. The last to enter was Dream, who had a poorly hidden look of disappointment at the realization that he wouldn't be on his pc. 

“Why does that involve us again?” Dream mused as he walked over to George’s computer, sinking onto the soft seat with a feeling of dread.

With a huff, Sapnap replied, “You can't sleep through every event, George.”

George would have taken offense to that, if it weren't so inherently true. He was almost notorious for it at this point. Besides, it was Dream's job to get angry for him, which, as he glanced over to Dream contently sitting and clicking away at the keys, didn't seem like it was going to happen. He rolled his eyes in unfounded irritation, seemingly his mood from earlier was taking a toll on him. He stubbornly willed his negativity away. "So you "accumulating an army" is a server wide event, huh?" He said dubiously. Well hopefully most of his negativity anyway, just not his negativity towards Sapnap.

“It could be, if things escalate,” Sapnap defended with a shrug. Dream bit back a sarcastic comment, knowing they could all go back and forth for so long they'd miss the stream. 

“Just start the stream, we’ll save our ridiculing comments for the viewers,” Dream remarked with an eye roll, booting up minecraft as they spoke.

“Fine, fine. Give me a few minutes, I’ll start it up soon. Don’t cause too many issues, alright you two?”

“Why would  _ we _ cause issues? We’re usually the ones dealing with what you start,” Dream teased.

With a sinking feeling, George loaded into the server, seeing the familiar  Dream has joined the game. Somehow the sight did nothing to tame his frustration or nerves. "Yeah Sapnap, I'm already getting myself ready to deal with another Henry or Fungi incident." He paused, thinking about his track record. "What is it with you and slaughtering beloved server pets anyway?"

“I dunno man, I don't even mean to do it half the time,” Sapnap explained as rapid typing came from his keyboard, likely from him titling the stream. 

Seeing  GeorgeNotFond has joined the game was usually a message that filled Dream with joy, but right now, his heart was beating so loudly he couldn't hear the banter between the other two. ‘ _ Come on, I only have to stay on for a few hours at most. I could even leave midway through, I’ll just say I gotta eat. This will be fine, _ ’ Dream reassured himself.

George relaxed as the time ticked by as they bantered as usual, it was difficult, trying to banter as Dream would, some of his lines coming out a little more flat and a little less funny but he hoped viewers wouldn't read too much into it. His heart eased up a little as they kept playing, the familiarity making it easy to simply ignore his emotions and just focus on putting on the usual show, this time with a little more Dream. 

He'd been more quiet than usual, merely watching as Sapnap entertained both stream and himself by talking to other members on the server and occasionally George. Raised voices. Shouts of alarm.  Sapnap has been slain by [Long Schlong] George giggled, which came out as a strained wheeze. "Nice, Sapnap." he commented, idly punching a tree.

Sapnap began to speak up to defend himself, but was interrupted by a dono.  ” **Dream, you okay? You’ve hardly given your boyfriend, George, any attention.** " The robotic voice read out, earning a snicker from the other two boys.

“Yeah Dream, where’s all of my affection? Do you not love me anymore?” Dream questioned teasingly, not giving much thought to his words.

All happiness that had managed to accumulate broke free like a damn dam had opened. Dream had some fucking nerve. Asking him so casually, reciprocating to a dono so easily when he had no idea the sort of heartache he was currently putting him though. In a tiny corner of his brain, logic was trying to reason that Dream couldn't possibly know how his words hurt, but the much louder, much angrier part of his brain told him one clear objective:  _ hurt him back. _

"No, I don't fucking love you." He spat in contempt. "I'm straight,  _ idiot _ . Sure maybe I like you but just because I do dumb flirty shit with you all the time doesn't mean I love you. At all. I'm just an asshole who can't pick up on social cues so I cope by being "homiesexual". It's not like I'm expected to give you my attention all the time, I have a life outside of you." The words were bitter, not wholly true and came from a source of pure rage that George hadn't realized he'd accidentally tapped into. 

George felt awful saying this crap. Deeply terrible. He didn't even really know why he was saying half the things he had as blind fury kept egging him on.

There was a painfully awkward silence that followed those words, broken only by the sound of the occasional subscription jingle or timid press of a keyboard. Dream was especially silent, feeling the words stab at him like a sharp knife. He never expected to hear an insult, although indirect, so harsh coming from someone he trusted so much, especially in front of a large audience. Shame and hurt bubbled in him, and a small voice inside of him told him to step away from the stream before it got any worse.

A much, much louder voice told him not to let George get the last word. He decided to listen to that voice instead.

“Oh Dream, don’t be so harsh on yourself. At least you can actually show your friends affection and give them the time of day, unlike me - who can’t even tell my friends that I love them or show up to the events they’ve spent  _ days _ planning, even when I promise to. No, instead I sleep through everything and don’t give a second thought to the effort they put into it. Pretty damn selfish, don’t you think? It’s okay though, since everyone’s far too nice to call me out on it. Of course, I wouldn’t dare return this kindness to them; no, that’d be stupid. Instead, I insult them constantly, and mock every attempt at a genuine moment they try to share, because god forbid someone get close to me.”

He was burning with shame now. Shame and rage. A fire of humiliation and anger bubbling across his body. But not his body. Dream's body. He didn't know if that made it better. Maybe he could carve the emotional pain into his body and make Dream feel it when they finally switched back. Maybe then he'd understand what his heart being broken to smithereens felt like. 

He didn't know what he expected, honestly, he had said fighting words, and Dream had responded in earnest. Maybe he was hoping that the man of a supposed 1000 iq would be able to see past his bullshit, to see the underlying heart in pieces and put him back together- but that was wishful thinking. Dream's words had made that painfully clear. Now he was being attacked; exactly what he needed. 

"Oh  _ right _ ," he started venomously "because  _ I _ know  _ all _ about people trying to get close to me! Because aggressively forcing viewpoints onto other people like getting to say "I love you, Dream" is so understanding and connecting when maybe it's just that it takes time to say those words that I toss around like cheap trash. Because my "I love you"'s mean  _ nothing _ . I don't even consider how the other person might feel all for the sake of the fucking "bit", the "meme". And I'm just so  _ damn _ proud of myself for forcing that little victory that it doesn't. Even. Matter. How. You. Feel. Because  _ I'm _ an inconsiderate PRICK!" He was fully aware Dream had probably never said prick in his life, he didn't really care.

Dream felt his emotions begin to boil, far more than shame and hurt at this point. Frustration and certain sadness he couldn’t quite explain left him trembling in rage, and he felt his eyes begin to water. He was always the more emotional one out of the two, and the last thing he needed was to start crying in the middle of an argument. This would have to end quickly. “You motherfUCKER-” He began to yell, but was quickly cut off by Sapnap slamming his fists down on his desk.

“What the FUCK you two? What has gotten into you? I don’t know what weird type of argument you two are getting into right now, but CUT IT OUT! Especially on stream! What the hell?” He exclaimed, muting his mic at the end before saying, “You two have some weird shit to sort out clearly. I don’t know what happened, but can you just- leave? Go talk it out, or hide away in your rooms- I don’t care, just  _ go. _ ”

Dream opened his mouth to defend himself, or even try to explain it to Sapnap, but closed it quickly as he realized there was no use. “You’re right, sorry,” He apologized, quickly logging off to sort out his issues. He wanted to simply lock himself in a room, he didn’t care which room at this point, and let his emotions break out until he had no more frustration left to cry about. But he knew that wouldn’t solve anything between the two- they’d have to talk it out, and figure out where that outburst came from. He sighed deeply, leaving the room and deciding he’d pick what to do next depending on what George did.

George seethed as he silently left the room, not trusting himself to say another word that wouldn't come out as a yell or vicious swear that would probably drag Sapnap into this. His footsteps felt heavy as they walked into the living room. His heart felt heavy and his lungs empty. He felt out of steam and suddenly exhausted, more ashamed than angry. The very last thing he wanted to do was talk to Dream. Ever. He'd probably need 100 years before he willingly wanted to talk to Dream. There was a tense, uncomfortable silence between them again. Dream sat down on the couch and George remained quietly circling the living room. He felt truly and deeply miserable, maybe his anguish would slowly be trampled like the carpet beneath his socks as he paced back and forth.

Dream was silent for a bit, crossing his arms as he simply stared at George. His face was still flushed from anger. He didn’t trust his voice not to break until his eyes were dry and tears were a faraway possibility. Still, as reluctant as he was to start talking, he quickly realized George wasn’t going to make the first effort. He let out a deep sigh, hearing Sapnap distantly apologizing to the viewers. Finally, he let out a hesitant, “Why?”

He crossed his arms, stopped his irritated walking and looked down at Dream in mild contempt. "What do you mean,  _ why _ ?" he tried to keep his tone even, but an icy edge was apparent in his trembling voice.

“Why’d you start saying all of that?” Dream muttered, keeping his stare trained on the taller. The icy glare pierced right through him, though he did his best to maintain a poker face and a steady tone. As hurt as he was, he didn’t want to start another argument, especially when Sapnap was one room over.

George hesitated. Did he want to explain?  _ Could _ he even explain? He decided to go for the safest route he saw. He glanced away to stare at some dumb painting they'd bought from a garage sale on the wall. 

"It's not like I was lying." His voice was small, throat feeling clenched as he said the words.

A little louder he managed out, "That dono was out of line." he tried to redirect the conversation. "I can't believe Sapnap's mods let it through."

George’s response was the final blow to Dream’s defenses, cracking right through his poor attempt at a poker face.  _ It’s not like I was lying _ echoed through his head, filling his mind and then his lungs. He felt like he was suffocating, and he couldn’t explain why. The water rapidly returned to his eyes, spilling out as he turned away from the other. He hoped that it’d go unnoticed, though when a soft sniffle escaped from him, he knew that was impossible. So instead, he let out a tiny, trembling whisper. “You wanna know what I wished for?”

George's eyes widened in shock and his heart stuttered in pain as it finally hit him just how much he had hurt Dream. The tears were enough to nearly break his heart a second time. Shame turned to immense self-hatred. His unrequited feelings and self-pity should have been for  _ him _ to deal with, but here was Dream, crying on the couch because of his stupid feelings and even stupider actions. He felt the urge to sit down next to him, pull him into a hug and beg for forgiveness, to tell Dream that none of this was his fault and that it was just George being an idiot, as usual, and that it would all pass soon. 

But Dream had asked a question. A baffling one, at that. George's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "W-what do you mean? Your wish? What does that have to do with anything?" His tone picked up in volume though it stemmed more from a tired and confused frustration than actual anger.

Dream left all of George’s questions unanswered as he curled up on the couch, taking a deep breath as he attempted to get control over his tears. “My wish was that you’d know how I felt. Pretty stupid, huh? It doesn’t even make sense to me, I don’t know why I wished for that. But it was the only thing I could think about at the moment. I don’t know exactly what I wanted you to understand about my feelings, I just know that it was all I wanted at that second. I guess I should start putting more thoughts into my wishes before I make them,” Dream explained as he wiped his eyes.

“Even now, I want you to know how I feel.  _ I _ don’t even get what I’m feeling, but I wish you did. That sounds dumb when I say it out loud, but it just makes so much sense in my weird head. I spent today thinking that maybe, if our wishes were fulfilled, we’d swap back to our own bodies. I thought that all that was missing was you magically understanding how I felt from being in my body. But it’s not really fair of me to expect that from you, is it? I’m usually a pretty open person, so you wouldn’t have known to learn how I feel. You’re probably thinking that you already know a bunch of my feelings about things.”

“But it’s occurred to me that there’s one thing I don’t talk to you about. I don’t tell people how I feel about it, because it’s terrifying to me. It’s my entire world, yet I feel like one wrong move will take it away from me. I try so hard not to fuck things up with it, yet here I am, crying because I fucked things up so terribly. It’s so scary to care so much about it, yet life’s never been better than when I started caring about it. I think you’ve probably pieced together by now that it’s you.”

“So, I guess what I’m saying is, to fix this fucking mess, I think I’ve gotta talk to you about… you. I’ve gotta tell you so many things that both piss me the hell off and mean the absolute world to me - and it’s all about you. I don’t know if I’m ready for that, but if it’ll mean I can reverse this all, then I’ll do it. I suppose the question is - are you ready to listen?”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for the truth.

_ “Are you ready to listen?” _

The words crashed over him like a wave of molten lava. He felt surrounded by 1,000,000 sharp needles, like if he breathed too hard or moved too fast he would be impaled. He didn't know if he was ready to listen. What exactly did Dream mean by understanding his "feelings"... the word sparked false hope in his chest. He quickly stamped out the fizzling ember, chiding himself for letting the brief glimpse of longing and hope fill his chest. He took a seat somewhere on the couch beside Dream, not too far but not too close. He didn't even know if he could speak. "Y-yeah." His voice came out somewhat raspy and overtly anxious.

“Heh, part of me was hoping you’d say no, and we could forget this ever happened. But at the same time, I’m glad you said yes, because this had to happen eventually,” Dream began slowly, flashing a somewhat sad smile at George. George’s chest swam with anxiety.

“Man, where do I even start? We’ve been friends for so long, I have so many things to say. As much as I’d like to pretend like the negatives don’t exist, I think I’ll start there, so I can get that out of the way. Please just- don’t get mad?” He asked hopefully, though he didn’t wait for an answer before he began.

“Here goes nothing… I really can’t stand when you lash out randomly. I’ll say something small that’s usually fine, but then you’ll suddenly start insulting me and getting genuinely angry at me, and I won’t even know what I did wrong. You won’t even apologize for it, most of the time. If you do, it’s only because I apologized first, even if I don’t think I did something wrong.”

“Or sometimes, I’ll say something that I know upset you, though I don’t mean to. Yet you’ll never tell me why it upset you, and you brush off my apologies. I can’t fix things if you don’t tell me where to start. I’m not you, - ironic to say right now, I know - so I don’t know what you’re feeling. You can’t expect me to know unless you explain it.”

“I also wish you would show a bit more affection. Like- I get that it can be hard, and it’s different for you than it is for Sapnap and I. But sometimes it feels like you- um… don’t care, I guess? You’ll be so cold when we try to show affection, whether it’s obvious or subtle, and it kinda crushes me. I-I don’t know why. I think that’s why I show so much affection to you - I keep hoping that if I give you tons, you’ll return at least some.” 

Dream let out a shaky breath, trying to give his anxiety, which had been swelling with each word, a chance to calm down. He also wanted to give George a chance to speak. 

George was speechless. He sat, in stunned silence. He gave miniscule nods as he followed along, he knew where Dream was coming from, but the words stung as he finally heard them voiced. If only Dream knew the half of what he was talking about. Although, he supposed that was Dream's point. But feelings were hard and showing feelings was even harder. How was he supposed to communicate that do the guy he wanted nothing more to kiss and have hold him. At what point did his feelings become too much? It was a constant tightrope between too much and not nearly enough and he could feel his balance waning with every passing second. 

He gestured for Dream to go on.

Dream gave an appreciative nod at the gesture. The lack of an angry response soothed his anxiety immensely, though somehow, this next part was scarier than the previous.

“Obviously, that’s not all of my thoughts about you. Just the negatives that are coming to mind,” Dream stated the obvious as an attempt to stall for time, though it somehow only managed to make him feel more awkward.

“And, uh, now the positives. Bare with me here, you wouldn’t be my best friend if I didn’t have, like, a million good things to say. Um, for starters, you go through uncomfortable situations for Sapnap and I just to make us happy. Like- the fair. You knew there’d be a huge crowd, and it’d be inevitable for some disaster to occur with us swapped, yet you still went and let us have fun. You never called me out for not acting more like you. You just let me enjoy the day, even if it’d cause issues for you later on. So, I guess what I’m saying is, you’re selfless.”

“Oh, and I really like your laugh. That’s so random, I know. But it always just… makes everything feel okay. Whether it’s a nervous giggle or near wheeze- it just makes me really happy, and I can’t explain why.” Dream’s tears were dry now, and a content smile spread across his lips as he spoke.

“Sometimes, I’ll talk about something that I’m sure you think is ridiculous - like wishes - but when you can tell it means a lot to me, you give it a genuine try. And sure, you’ll tease me about it in the future if it doesn’t work out, but that’s half the fun.”

“Recently, we’ve shared a lot of moments that… gah, I don’t know. They just- mean a lot to me. For example, when we talked at the fair, just the two of us. It was like the rest of the world just disappeared for a few moments, and nothing mattered besides the two of us. I hate when those moments end.”

Dream knew he was rambling now, but he couldn’t stop himself. The words had been in his mind for so long, and though it was coming out a bit odd out loud, he couldn’t help it. Every thought that came to mind spewed out of his lips with little to no thought beforehand.

“I waited for so long to have you here with me in real life. Our friendship online was just- amazing, but nothing compares to this. Even when we’re sitting there yelling a bunch of indirect insults at each other, I wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world. Fuck, I have so many things I want to say, I can’t even express it all. Like, when we fell asleep on the couch together after watching the meteor shower, that meant everything to me. You mean everything to me. There are a million positives I want to say, I million reasons why I-”

_ -Love you _ . The words died in his throat, feeling so impossible to say. He’d said simple little  _ ”I love you” _ s to his friends a thousand times. Even George had heard it so many times from him, he was sure the phrase must’ve meant very little coming from him anymore. But there was something about saying it  _ now _ that felt different. It had an entirely different definition now. As he stared at the boy sitting beside him, it all made so much sense. He wished he could see George’s reactions on his own face, but there was something about it being on Dream’s face that made it so much clearer to him.

He felt amazing and terrible in an indescribable way. This new realization lifted a huge weight off of his shoulder, yet it crushed him at the same time. Their argument from before echoed in his head - specifically, George saying,  _ No, I don't fucking love you _ . Did he mean it, or was it him mocking Dream? Given the context, it was probably the latter, but Dream couldn’t help but panic at it being the former.

“I… I-I’m sorry, I don’t think I can do this. Maybe some wishes shouldn’t come true,” Dream murmured, his cheeks flushing brightly. Feeling the warmth on his face, he turned away, contemplating running away and hiding for forever.

George felt like Dream's words had soothed him, warm and soft, as they thawed out his frigid attitude. It was hard to stay mad at Dream or even himself when this feeling was so comfortable, fluffy and just-  _ reassuring _ .

His hand shot out to gently lay on top of Dream's in a blind panic, not wanting him to stop. He needed Dream to keep looking at him. It was effective because Dream turned around, flushed and shy. He recognized the expression in his face.

He stammered out, "No, please, Dream. If my dream can come true, then so can yours. I... I think I get what you mean, just... say it?" 

His heart was hammering, threatening to take off, he didn't dare breathe in anticipation. The dim spark of hope was pulsating, glowing brighter than ever. Over and over he tried to lower his expectations, beg himself to stop dreaming- stop  _ wishing _ . That's what had gotten them into this whole mess, right? What if it only got them into another... The pounding in his chest felt lethal.

Dream stared at the boy in front of him, trying to find the courage to say those three words. His heart hurt from beating so fast, likely to keep up with his rapid breathing. “I… I love you, George,” He whispered out, leaning into the hand on top of his head as he added, “and I think I have for a long time. Is that okay?”

"A-are you sure??" George replied quickly, breathlessly. His heart was soaring, he was 80% certain he was dreaming. He slowly, uncertainly, moved the hand that was on Dream's up to his face, cupping his cheek softly. "Dream, this is really important to me," he whispered, voice trembling " _ are you sure? _ "

Dream nodded, scooting closer to George as he assured, “Yeah, I am. I don’t think I’ve ever been  _ more _ sure of something like this. And- it’s okay if you don’t feel the same or anything, though I, um, hope this won’t change anything between us if that’s the case.”

"God, you're such a fucking idiotic moron asshole." He collapsed against Dream in relief, shuddering against shirt in dry tears, just longing for the contact more than anything else.

Dream let out a soft laugh of relief, wrapping his arms around George. He remained quiet as he held the boy, letting his mind wander about everything that had happened in the past day. Things had moved so overwhelmingly quickly, but if the day ended with George in his arms, then he was okay with it all.

He mumbled those three quiet soft words into Dream's shirt, the dumb long sleeved blue one he had insisted on wearing. He poured every bit of his affection into those words, but he knew Dream wouldn't be able to hear them. If he really wanted to hear them, he'd have to ask.

“I can’t hear you, silly. What'd you say?” Dream questioned, a loving grin on his face. He knew damn well what George had said, but after everything he'd just poured out, he figured he'd earned hearing it clearly.

"I said-" he started, with an equally dopey grin. But he never finished his sentence. Instead, he closed his eyes so he wouldn't have to stare himself in the face as he kissed his freshly minted boyfriend. And so he did, pulling Dream's chin towards him as he leaned down to kiss him.

It wasn't magical, in fact it was really really weird knowing he was technically kissing himself. But he put logic aside and leaned into the kiss, letting the world fade away. Everything around them was irrelevant, it was just him and Dream and it didn't really matter which body as long as they had each other. 

He finally pulled away, content and so full of joy he might burst. Then he realized he was looking up. At Dream. George's eyes widened. "Dream?"

Dream was still on cloud nine from the kiss, letting out a dumb, “Huh?” However, as he opened his eyes and realized he was looking down at George, a gasp escaped his lips. He rushed to the bathroom, staring at the mirror with a huge grin.

His own reflection was grinning back at him, with those familiar freckles and the green eyes he could finally see the color of. “Holy shit- we’re ourselves again!" He exclaimed.

George, left on the couch, was mildly disgruntled at being immediately ignored. He wanted to kiss his boyfriend, dammit. In the right body. Who just ran away. 

With an agitated sigh he followed, duly taking in the lack of color that was back in his vision. "Keep your voice down idiot, Sapnap's still streaming." George looked over and appreciated being able to go back to staring at Dream and the light freckles that dusted his face. He considered reaching over and planting a kiss on his lips, but he no longer had the height advantage and the moment was gone.

“Oh, now that you mention that,” Sapnap said from the living room, staring at the duo in pure confusion as he continued, “Stream ended a couple minutes ago. What the hell do you mean -  _ you’re yourselves again _ ?”

Dream glanced over at Sapnap, coming up with a million different excuses, before he suddenly began laughing. It started out as a small chuckle, but it quickly grew into loud wheezes that had him leaning over and struggling to breathe. He reached over, placing a hand on George’s shoulder to steady himself as he continued to laugh, feeling almost light-headed at this point. Whether he found this hilarious or was coping with the day’s shocking events through laughter was unclear; all that was certain was that he couldn’t stop.

Sapnap’s confusion only grew larger as he watched the reaction, glancing over at George for some sort of explanation. “What? What’s so funny?”

George was equally confused and somewhat panicked. "Uhh... we've been feeling... not like ourselves all day?" He tried, not technically lying. He glared at the wheezing Dream, stomping on his toes lightly. "Oh fuck off Dream, I'm just gonna tell him  _ everything _ if you dont help me.... tell him how we've been feeling..." he trailed off with uncertainty, eyes flicking between the bent over Dream and confused Sapnap.

Sapnap rolled his eyes at the wheezing boy, saying, “Look, clearly something was up with the two of you today. Especially after whatever that was on stream. Come on, you definitely owe me an explanation. No bullshit.”

Dream finally calmed himself down, wiping tears from his eyes after laughing so hard. “What do you want me to say? We were stuck in each other’s body all day after making a wish during the meteor shower? I doubt he’ll believe us,” Dream said, earning a skeptical glare from the youngest.

He looked at Dream as he rolled his eyes before turning back to Sapnap with a smirk. "He's not lying, you know?"

"Wait-" George said in realization. "Does that mean we can blame Sapnap for all of this?"

Dream snorted, nodding in agreement with George. “Yeah, he is the one who woke us up for that. If it weren’t for him, none of that would’ve happened,” Dream teased, though he paused to contemplate the day’s events. “Though, I can’t say I’m upset at how things ended.”

“Wait- WHAT? You guys like- wha- you- YOU SWAPPED BODIES?” Sapnap stammered out in disbelief, disregarding the last comment Dream made.

"Yeah, are you deaf or something? Didn't you think I was suspiciously kind or suspiciously good at fair games?" George questioned, raising an eyebrow at Sapnap. "Honestly Sapnap, can't even tell the your best friends apart, some friend you are." He tutted in mock disappointment, then made a tiny noise of protest as Dream straightened up to stop leaning on him. He felt suddenly very touch starved and hated every second of it. Though whether or not the hatred stemmed from some sort of disbelief or resistance that Dream was now his  _ boyfriend _ or if it was because he just wasn't getting it, he didn't know.

As Sapnap continued to sputter, Dream glanced over at George, looking somewhat amused at the noise he’d made. Reaching over, he wrapped an arm around the smaller boy, curious to see if it was contact that he wanted. At the sight, Sapnap fell silent, observing the two before timidly asking, “Did, uh… something happen between you two?”

George turned red, having been understood so easily by both men now looking at him. He adored the touch, not even too agitated at how easily Dream could put an arm over him. Maybe being shorter than everyone in his life had perks. Maybe. 

He shrank against Dream's side with a nervous laugh. "You mean, aside from switching bodies?" He glanced up to Dream as if silently questioning if they should tell him or not. Belatedly, it occurred to him they were being pretty obvious.

“Take a wild guess, Snapmap,” Dream responded, chuckling at the glare he received from the youngest over the nickname.

“Are you two together or something? And like- when’d that happen?” Sapnap decided to ignore the obnoxious nickname, knowing damn well that if he acknowledged it then Dream would only use it more.

George sighed, standing up straight but making himself more comfortable beneath Dream's arm, raising a hesitant hand up to his. With his other hand he pretended to check a non-existent watch. "Oh, about 4 minutes ago." He scoffed at Sapnap. "Now if you don't mind leaving the living room to us alone, we have very important boyfriend things to discuss." He stuck his tongue out at Sapnap.

Sapnap let out a sigh, muttering, “I’m never gonna hear the end of the fucking single jokes, am I?” Before walking to his room, shutting the door behind him.

“What boyfriend things do we have to discuss?” Dream questioned, looking down at George as he spoke. His cheeks were beginning to hurt from grinning so much, though he supposed that wasn’t a bad thing to be in pain for.

"Oh nothing, I mainly wanted to tell you that you are such an awful boyfriend for leaving my ass all alone on the couch after we switched back. Mainly cuz I didn't get to kiss lips that weren't my own." He slipped free from Dream's arm and hopped onto the couch with a shy grin. "Wanna try that again?"

Dream let out a soft laugh, following George to the couch. He sat down beside him, placing his hand on the boy’s cheek before leaning in to kiss. It was a lot smoother now, though still far from perfect. Nevertheless, he smiled into the kiss, using his free hand to wrap around George and pull him closer. There was something so natural about it to him, like they were simply meant to be sitting there on that couch together, locked into a gentle kiss.

George broke out of the kiss with a series of giggles. "I can't believe you pulled the same move I did. Copycat." His laughter faded as he laid down on Dream's lap and made himself comfy. The sun had long since set and the dim glow of a barely functional lamp lit the room in a warmth that couldn't begin to compare to the warmth he felt being with Dream. He glanced out the window and saw stars. He smiled. 

"You know what? I think I do believe in wishing on stars." He looked back to Dream's face, reaching up a lazy hand to stroke his cheek lovingly. "We should wish on them more often."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading this all the way through, we hope you enjoyed! Please don't be shy and feel free to leave us some comments letting us know what you liked or what you wanna see more of <3

**Author's Note:**

> I'm really excited to share this fic! Juno and I have been rping a TON to create this and I'm really proud of how much we've written and how dang good it felt to write and ready :) This is an rp, but between two authors so you know it's gonna be a bit less janky than if we weren't. That being said, there might be a few tiny inconsistencies as well as constantly shifting points of view. If this ain't your jam, that's okay. We understand. If it is, then drop a kudos and leave us a comment or two <3
> 
> This work is complete and will be updated every other day until it's finished. I hope you enjoy! :D
> 
> Also feel free to join our ao3 discord, whether you be an author looking for place to brainstorm and share your work, or a reader looking for a place to find smaller authors and great works by all sorts of people :)  
> https://discord.gg/Uj4EA4xYze


End file.
